The Case of the Creature Kidnappings
by frostykitten
Summary: "What your puny mind doesn't understand, Potter, is that she does the paperwork I hate, and I do the dirty work that grates on her Gryffindor sensibilities." Hermione and Draco have been partners working in the Department for Control and Regulation of Magical Creatures for years, but their comfortable partnership is shaken up when creatures go missing and the Aurors get involved.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

**A/N: Hello readers! Look, a new story! It's going to be 28 chapters long and an epilogue (yes, I'm done writing it, so there shouldn't be huge waits between chapters like some of my other stories *coughThisIncarnationcough* **

**You have Irianaceleste to thank for it being out so soon. I was going to make you wait at least another week or so before I had this out, but she got the first three chapters betaed so fast. And here it is! Don't forget to review, kay?**

**~Frosty**

Tall, broad shouldered, and with a fondness for leather duster coats that had saved his arse on more than one occasion, he cut a rather impressive figure. In his mind, there was nothing more intimidating than someone looking completely unruffled in a dire situation.

He patted his pockets and fished out various things. Frowning down at his dwindling supplies, he slipped a wooden stake, a vial of holy water, and his wand into the many pockets of his long coat. Never leave the house without first being properly prepared – that motto had saved his arse even more times than the trench coats had.

He worked for The Department of Control and Regulation of Magical Creatures – emphasis on the control. His partner got to handle all the regulating, he did the dirty work. The kind of dirty work that involved the satisfying crunch of broken bones and on rare occasions, a beheading. Working was always most satisfying when he brought out his sword and beheaded something.

So he liked violence. He had some remaining anger issues after the war. He got away with them because most of the people who complained changed their tune after a few words and his famous icy glare.

Was it a crime for him to intimidate coworkers like this?

Probably.

But once again, with no one to complain, his superiors were willing to let his attitude slide because he was so good at what he did. He wasn't just good; he and his partner were two of the best in the world – partially because very few Ministries had a department quite like theirs.

His thick soled boots thumped across the floor as he made his way out of the house.

"Draco!" a voice called just as he reached the door. His shoulders immediately bunched as he waited for what was sure to come next.

"Draco, did you remember the stakes? I don't want you facing down a nasty vampire only to find that you've forgotten your stakes." A beautiful blonde woman drifted into the room and started to fuss with his coat, fixing the collar and trying to subtly make sure that he did indeed have stakes in the pockets.

For a full moment, he allowed it, his eyes turned to the ceiling in longsuffering frustration. When he'd deemed she'd had enough time to fuss, he pushed her away – gently, of course.

"Mother, I'm going to be late for work," he muttered, slipping out the door.

* * *

Hermione looked up from her notes at the scowling blond darkening the doorway of her office. He was scowling at her, but she knew she hadn't done anything to warrant that expression – this time. If it had been her that had incurred his wrath, he wouldn't be shy about letting her know.

"Your mum ask you if you remembered to bring the stakes again?" she asked with false sympathy that did nothing to conceal the humour in her voice. Draco was always in a foul mood when his mother made him feel like a child, yet most of the time, he allowed it.

His glare only intensified. "Either you give me my assignment for today or I start killing off coworkers. I'm starting with the stupid bint at the coffee cart."

Hermione handed him over a folder, knowing the contents were not going to go over well. "A unicorn?" he demanded. "You want me to kill a _unicorn_?"

"No, you idiot. You're to _capture _the unicorn. It's wandered too close to a Muggle city and is in danger of being discovered. We have to relocate the poor thing."

"The coffee bitch dies," he announced.

Hermione remained unaffected. She was used to Malfoy's petulant behaviour. Years of growing up completely spoiled and then living under the same roof as Voldemort had left him a fair share of emotional scars – not that she could point fingers, she had her share of war wounds as well. The difference between them was that Hermione tried to deal with her issues and Malfoy wore his as a "look away or I'll behead you" sign strewn across his face.

"You're not going to stop me?" Usually, she would have calmly spoken up and stopped his ranting by now, and it was obviously throwing him off that she had decided to humour his antics.

"She's confused my order one too many times." Hermione didn't even look up from her papers, but she could imagine the baffled confusion in Draco's eyes. "Do what you wish; just don't get caught."

He spent a brief moment fantasising about making the coffee woman pay for giving him coffee instead of his usual lemon tea. Coffee was disgusting; he didn't know how anyone could stomach the vile liquid, and for the beverage slave to think that he was so common as to drink the black dishwater of a drink... His eyes narrowed again as his murderous fantasies redoubled.

The tapping of a quill brought him back out of his daze. He hated tapping quills almost as much as he hated incompetent beverage slaves.

"Are you going to kill her or not? Because we have a unicorn to catch if there's going to be no homicide in the workplace today."

Hermione had been working for the same department since she was fresh out of Hogwarts, and Draco had been working there almost as long. As soon as the blond joined the team, he'd been assigned as Hermione's partner and they'd been working together ever since. It was good that they'd managed not to kill each other, since everyone else in the office was too intimidated by Draco to stand up to him. After almost five years of seeing him nearly every day, Hermione knew how to handle almost all of his volatile moods.

Malfoy seemed to contemplate her request for a moment, but that was only because he didn't want her to know that she'd already won. "Fine," he eventually grumbled, standing from his chair and following her out of the room.

Hermione rushed back into her office and snatched the file off of her desk. "Remember what happened the _last time _you didn't read the file?" she demanded as they made their way to the Portkey office.

"Absolutely nothing. I never read the files and nothing goes wrong because of my lack of knowledge. By the time we get there, you've nagged me enough for me to know the contents of the bloody files in their entirety anyway. There's just no point in wasting my time."

She huffed irritably before brushing off the insult. "This unicorn we're after is on the very edge of a small town near Moscow."

Malfoy rolled his eyes as she started her little lecture. Why was he surrounded by nagging females? He obviously wasn't trying hard enough to scare Granger into leaving him alone.

Wait a minute; Moscow... That meant Russia. His eyes moved from the ceiling to scowl down at the brunette keeping pace with him. It was cold in Russia, particularly in the middle of winter.

Draco hated the cold.

* * *

"-And if you had read the file like I _told _you to, then you would have known that a stunning spell won't work on a unicorn," Granger snapped.

Draco had long since tuned out her ranting. Instead, he was staring at the ceiling as he reclined against a hospital bed and allowed the healer to work on the gouge mark in his abdomen. He noticed that the brunette at his side was pointedly avoiding looking anywhere but in his eyes. This amused him to no end. If only she wouldn't lecture him to distract herself from the view if his attractive torso. Then he might have some blissful peace and quiet.

"You should have known better than to try and take a unicorn head-on," she continued. Draco was right that Hermione was having trouble looking at him. Despite the angry red slash from where the unicorn had charged and injured him, he was a fine specimen. She knew he was aware of what she was thinking, and it embarrassed her to no end that her infuriating partner knew she was attracted to him.

Despite their awareness, neither of them had ever verbally acknowledged this attraction that Hermione had. That would have made working together uncomfortable and Hermione would never allow something like that interfere with her work.

The Healer applied some salve to the injury, healed the wound and then slipped out of the room, unnoticed by either of the other occupants. They were too wrapped up in their bickering to realize that Draco was healed. The Healer knew what the young Malfoy would say when he discovered that they were going to have to keep him for the night, and she didn't want to be anywhere near the fallout zone when it happened. Let his frizzy-haired friend reveal the news to him, that one seemed almost immune to his temper.

"I _didn't _take the unicorn head on," he growled. "It _charged _at me. There's a difference."

Hermione huffed and muttered something about his idiocy, which Draco ignored. Perhaps he had been a _little _deserving of that charge. In his defense, he hadn't known that unicorns were able to understand human speech. If he had, he certainly wouldn't have said such unflattering things about its mother. He kept quiet about this though since he knew it would only start another lecture on the importance of reading the files and showing respect for the wonderful creatures that they handled on a daily basis.

"Where's the Healer?" he asked, bending slightly so he could peek at his no longer marred abdomen. Having had more than enough experience with flesh wounds, Draco ran a finger along the place where he'd been injured, checking for any twinges of pain. It appeared that he was completely healed.

Glancing around the room as well, Hermione shrugged. "She must have left."

Draco's eyes narrowed suspiciously. "Check my chart. They usually only slip away like that when I'm going to have to stay for the night."

With a sigh, she did as he asked. Hermione hated it when he had to stay for the night; it always made him a nightmare to deal with the next day because he hated the lumpy hospital beds. She supposed that if one was used to ridiculously expensive sheets and a mattress woven from clouds, the hospital beds were a bit of a downgrade. At least they knew to give him a private room. She could only imagine his fit if they tried to put him in a shared room.

Her eyes flicked over the information on his chart with practiced speed. Malfoy really did get injured rather frequently in their line of work. He was admitted to the hospital much more often than her. It was probably because he never bothered to read the files she gave him. The dangers of each magical creature were conveniently listed on the last page of every file. For example, in the one of the unicorn that Hermione had tried to make Draco read that very day, it had clearly warned that unicorns had a tendency to charge when they felt threatened.

"You're staying the night for observation," she said, raising her voice slightly when he started a string of profanities. "Apparently unicorn horns have magical properties that can cause complications if not healed very carefully. They want to keep an eye on it just in case."

Subtly, while he was still distracted by his angry ranting, Hermione grabbed his wand and shoved it in her pocket. It was best that he not have it on hand while trapped in the hospital. Just like the Healer before her, Hermione slipped out of the room. Malfoy noticed this time, but he only raised the volume of his swearing and glared at her. They were both more than familiar with the routine by now.

* * *

Hermione went back to her office to file the paperwork for the unicorn job. Technically, she and Malfoy were both supposed to submit a report, but because hers were so through and Malfoy's were mostly just barely literate chicken scratch (Hermione suspected that he went home and ordered a House Elf to complete his), they were allowed to submit only one set of documents.

Her forms however, were going to have to wait. Sitting on her desk for her was an owl, looking expectantly at her.

Hermione sighed. "What now?" she mumbled, knowing that an owl bearing the official Auror stamp rarely brought good news.

She sat down heavily and reached for the envelope. Oftentimes, if the Aurors were having trouble with a case involving magical creatures, Hermione's department would step in and assist. Since Draco got along with so few people, they were rarely the team that was asked, despite being one of the very best. Their work was mostly done on their own, in the wilderness where there weren't any other people present.

Hermione scanned over the letter, growing paler and paler as she read on. She'd been right in guessing that the Aurors needed their help. She and Malfoy were to help Aurors Potter and Weasley with a nest of vampires that seemed to be sheltering their fugitive.

The problem with this wasn't that Malfoy would probably attempt to murder her friends who would react in kind. No, her problem was that Harry and Ron, in all the times she'd visited the both of them in the last few years, hadn't been informed about the identity of her partner. It just hadn't really come up in conversation and then it had been too late for her to casually mention that she was working with one of the people they hated more than anything.

Tiredly rubbing a hand over her face, Hermione wrote a letter back confirming her appointment tomorrow morning with Aurors Potter and Weasley to discuss the case. It figured that the meeting had to take place on a day Malfoy was fresh out of the hospital. He was bound to be in an even more unpleasant mood than usual.

* * *

Hermione smiled at Harry and Ron, hoping they didn't notice the uncomfortable way she kept glancing towards her office door. She was praying that luck was with her and she'd be able to get the meeting with her friends over before Malfoy came bursting in. He had a tendency to be late, and if he would only be a little later that day, then she would have a while longer to break the news to her friends that Draco was her partner.

"Are you sure you can handle a nest of vampires?" Harry asked worriedly for what was probably the hundredth time. His hero complex hadn't faded much after school and he still thought of her as the bush-haired bookworm who had helped him with homework, not as the full-grown woman she was.

"Harry, from what I can tell from your reports, it's just a small nest, probably only three vampires. We've handled way worse and come out perfectly fine," she soothed.

Ron didn't seem concerned with the situation. He was content to gnaw on a liquorice wand and let Hermione and Harry work out the details of the mission. His blue eyes were roving over her office, taking in all the details for the first time.

Hermione was still as close with them as she'd been in school, but neither of them had ever seen her office. She had always come up with a reason to keep them away when they had mentioned stopping by since she didn't want them to run into Malfoy and cause a scene – or worse, an explosion. It was always so terribly messy after an explosion; paperwork and books never fared well against soot and smoke. If she could avoid it, Hermione would prefer _not _having to replace everything paper in her office _again_.

She was cutting it pretty close, but if Hermione managed to finish up her meeting with her friends and get them out of her office in the next few minutes, they would be gone before St. Mungo's even released Malfoy. She just had to hope that her luck would hold.

Hermione was just starting to get her hopes up about a conflict-free day when a bright purple interoffice memo flew under her door and then landed in Harry's lap. No matter how hard she tried to convince herself that the letter wasn't something Malfoy-related, there was an uncomfortable and vaguely nauseous sensation in her stomach that said otherwise.

The office was silent as Harry read his letter and then burst out laughing.

"What?" Ron demanded, trying to see over Harry's shoulder. Harry passed him the memo.

"Apparently there's been a bit of a disturbance at St. Mungo's this morning."

Hermione's stomach dropped, the chances of the memo not involving her having just dropped significantly. _Please let me be wrong, _she thought desperately, _I really don't want Harry and Ron to discover the identity of my partner this way._


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2 **

**A/N: Hello readers! For some reason when I wrote this, all of the stakes were steaks and then I had to go through and change them, but apparently I missed a few. By the time I was done changing them over, I had managed to confuse myself. Anyway! The one I missed in the previous chapter has been fixed, sorry for confusing you.**

**Next chapter! Look at me getting it posted so quickly. You have irianaceleste to thank for it, she got it edited so fast! **

**A huge thanks to everyone who reviewed. You guys make writing so much more fun.**

**~Frosty**

Harry continued, unaware of Hermione's fervent prayers. "Malfoy was in there last night and when he tried to leave this morning, they told him that he may need to stay a few more hours."

All of the colour drained from her face. Bloody hell, he must have been furious. She didn't even want to imagine how the hospital staff was going to react if he ever needed to go to the hospital again. They were probably cowering in fear.

"Apparently, he tried to hex a Healer, found that he had no wand, and then started swearing that some 'bloody interfering bitch' had stolen it from him. Then he tried to stab a Mediwitch with a _wooden stake _and escaped through the Floo."

Harry and Ron both had tears in their eyes and rosy cheeks from their laughter by the time Harry was finished explaining. While it was nice to see them in such good spirits, she wished it would have been on a topic that amused her as well.

Hermione was sure that, under different circumstances, she would have found the situation amusing as well. Unfortunately, she _was _the "bloody interfering bitch" and she knew where Malfoy had been headed when he'd Floo'd out of the hospital. She only had moments.

"Hermione, what's wrong?" Harry asked once his laughter had slowed down enough to notice that his friend hadn't been sharing in their mirth. "You look like you've seen a ghost."

"There's something I have to tell you." Hermione voice was uncharacteristically subdued and her eyes were downturned. Her stomach was once again not where it should be. It seemed to be doing flips.

"Hermione?" Ron asked. Even he had noticed that there was obviously something bothering their friend.

"About my partner," she started, only to be interrupted when the door to her office slammed against the wall with a room-shaking bang.

Malfoy, looking more dishevelled than usual, was standing in the doorway, breathing heavily. Harry and Ron immediately had their wands pointed at him, but Hermione merely sighed. She'd been hoping to have a conflict-free day.

"The beverage slave dies today," Malfoy growled. "Give me my wand." He held out his hand to Hermione, so focused on his anger that he had yet to notice that she wasn't alone in the office.

Hermione raised her eyebrows, gesturing with her eyes to his audience. Both Auror's wands were steady, pointed directly at Malfoy, whose scowl only deepened upon seeing them. His grey eyes flashed, just daring the other men to try something. Hermione didn't doubt that he was angry enough at the moment to try and take on the both of them unarmed – she could only hope they'd confiscated all of his stakes at the hospital after he'd tried to stab someone.

"Harry, Ron, put you wands down," Hermione said, knowing she was going to have to be the calm one if she wanted the confrontation to end without violence. "And Malfoy, you're not getting your wand back until you've calmed down. Go get your tea. If you want her to get your order right, try _not _making her cry and refrain from calling her a 'beverage slave'."

None of them looked happy about it, but Hermione was using her no nonsense voice and they knew bad things would happen if they disobeyed the no nonsense voice. Even Draco knew when to pick his battles. Glaring at everyone, he stalked off to get his coffee.

"Why do you have Malfoy's wand?" Harry demanded the second Malfoy was gone.

Hermione sighed yet again. "I took it from him last night so that he wouldn't hex anyone at the hospital. Apparently I forgot the stakes."

They were lucky that holy water wouldn't have done anyone there any damage, or Hermione would have had to replenish their stores of that as well as submit a request for more stakes (She somehow doubted the hospital would be willing to return the ones they'd confiscated).

"What aren't you telling us?" Harry asked, Ron nodding along in agreement while he gnawed on yet another licorice wand.

"Malfoy's my partner." Hermione spoke clearly, wanting to get that off of her chest before Draco returned to make the entire situation worse.

Unsurprisingly, Harry and Ron spent a moment sputtering before gaining their bearings once more.

"_Malfoy_?" Harry spat. "How long have you been partners with _him_?"

It was then that Draco returned, looking marginally less enraged as he sipped at his tea. Hermione could only assume that the poor girl at the coffee cart had made his order correctly since he wasn't ranting about her incompetence.

"We've been partners for as long as she's been working for the department," Malfoy said. He pushed past Harry and Ron and stood beside Hermione, his hand extended and waiting for his wand.

"Is that true?" Harry asked, his eyes showing hurt. Ron expression mirrored Harry's, but with more anger. Their break up had been mutual, but Ron still got a tad jealous when other men were around Hermione. To find out that Malfoy had been with her every day and he hadn't even known was probably quite the unpleasant shock for Ron.

Hermione nodded, swatting Malfoy's hand away. He wasn't going to get the wand until Harry and Ron were gone. "I didn't tell you because I didn't want you to get angry and start problems, and then I couldn't because it had been too long and you would have expected me to tell you sooner."

Shoving a pile of files to the floor, Malfoy perched on the edge of her desk, glaring at everyone in the room. Hermione didn't bother scolding him; she'd just make him pick up the files before she handed over the wand.

Draco looked around at everyone in the room. "I'm sure this would all be very entertaining and everything, but I've had a horrible night and I want to deal with as few Gryffindors as possible. Granger, why are your goons here?"

"They need us to clear out a vampire nest so they can arrest the man that's hiding with them." She could tell from her friend's expressions that they would dearly love to start hexing, but she was counting on the fact that they were Aurors and couldn't go after an unarmed man to keep Malfoy out of the hospital. She didn't want to be anywhere near him if he had to be sent to St. Mungo's again so soon after being released. She couldn't imagine the hospital staff being all that thrilled to see him again either. They needed time for counselling and stress leave before Draco went back there.

"Good," Malfoy said. "Potter, Weasley, get on with the briefing. I'm sure we'll all feel better once we've decapitated something. We can have this discussion later."

In perfect synch, Harry and Ron's mouths both dropped open in disbelief. Except for the oddly violent bits, Malfoy had sounded almost _mature_. They would have expected more sneering and insults to Hermione from the Malfoy they knew.

"You have the file, Hermione, you can brief your _partner_," Harry said, standing to leave.

Ron shot her a disappointed look but didn't say anything because he was chewing. They weren't consistent, but at least Ron occasionally had manners.

Immediately, Draco rounded on Hermione. "Wand. Now."

Her brown eyes lowered to the scattered pile of papers and then drifted back up to him, hinting.

"I'm not one of your little sidekicks, Granger. Give me back my wand or I'll take it back," he snarled. "You wouldn't be the first person I've stabbed today."

Hermione sighed but handed him the stick of wood. It just wasn't worth the fight. She waved her wand and cleaned up the papers as Malfoy took a seat in his usual chair. Coincidentally, it was the same one Harry had occupied.

"You're going to get arrested one day and I'm not going to bail you out. I'll just let you rot in prison while I train a new partner," she grumbled at him. They both knew that she was lying. While they may bicker, Hermione and Draco made a surprisingly good team. Besides, Draco had enough money to be able to bribe himself out of most trouble.

* * *

Hermione frowned up at the abandoned building on the fringes of London. It looked vaguely ominous, just the place for a coven of vampires. The bloodsuckers had a flair for drama that was annoying. The publication of _Dracula _and the resulting fame had gone right to their heads, making them think that clean and structurally sound structures ruined the aura of a place. Dingy and dilapidated were requirements for a nest.

Since they were going against something a little more dangerous than the unicorn, she was wearing a trench coat similar to Malfoy's with jeans to protect her from the sharp claws and fangs of their prey.

Fully in his element, Malfoy had settled into a state of dangerous calm that was significantly less annoying than his usual antagonistic personality. However, the calm was beginning to erode at the edges – Harry and Ron were late and Malfoy didn't have any patience. Hermione's bet was five more minutes before Draco burst in there, stakes and holy water flying. In the meantime, he was stalking back and forth across the alleyway they currently occupied like a caged animal.

"You know," she said in an irritated voice, "You could be using this time to read the file."

He made an annoyed sound; Hermione could practically _hear _his eyes rolling. "Granger, I've killed vampires before; chop their heads off, stake their heart, or hit them with a strong sunlight spell. It's not exactly difficult."

He patted the hilt of the sword at his hip with something resembling affection. Hermione had never understood his fondness for the strip of metal. The thing, unlike Hermione's smaller, ministry issued blade, was something of a Malfoy heirloom and it was jewel encrusted with platinum detailing; entirely too ostentatious for an instrument of death in Hermione's opinion.

A strange scurrying in a dark shadow caught Hermione's attention. Worried that it may be a disgusting rat, she took out her wand and bent to examine it. For a second, she thought she saw a lizard, but that was impossible. It was much too chilly for cold-blooded reptiles to be moving freely about. She shook her head at her overactive imagination.

Malfoy stopped his pacing at the sound of footsteps. Having heard the sound as well, Hermione's head whipped around to face the direction of the sound. Hand still resting on his sword, Malfoy disappeared into the shadows.

Hermione knew what was expected of her. One of their most successful strategies was where Hermione, trying to make herself look vulnerable and scared, would stand alone and wait until the attacker was almost on her. Just as she was about to be attacked, Malfoy would spring into action, followed immediately by Hermione.

This time, however, Hermione recognised the figure approaching. She frantically gestured at Draco to stop him from beheading the approaching figures. Hermione could only imagine the annoying paperwork if Malfoy tried to behead Harry – and she wasn't naive enough to think that Malfoy would fill out his own paperwork just because he'd caused the mess. It had certainly never worked that way in the past.

"Sorry we're late," Harry said, "We got caught up at the-_what are you wearing_?" he demanded, his eyes wide as they ran over Hermione's outfit.

She looked down at her ensemble. So maybe the jeans were a little more form-hugging than they were used to seeing and the jacket was fitted, it was because she couldn't afford to have claws catching on any loose fabric.

"A pretty standard hunting uniform, actually," she said with a careless shrug that she hoped masked her blush. Hermione had forgotten that Ron and Harry had never actually seen her at work. They probably thought her job was all filling out the paperwork that consumed most of her time.

"Where's Malfoy?" Ron demanded, looking around suspiciously as if he expected the blond man to come bursting out of the shadows leading an army of vampires.

"Right here, Weasel." Stepping out of the shadows, Malfoy was back to scowling. Luckily, with the arrival of Harry and Ron, his calm was back because he knew that he was going to get to finally start the mission.

"Is that a sword?" Ron asked, his wide eyes on the shiny instrument Malfoy held.

Hermione rolled her eyes and pulled back her coat to reveal her own sword resting at her hip. "We both have one, Ron. Now are you two ready?"

Harry and Ron shared a look that Hermione didn't even try to read. It was one of their "Hermione is doing something strange" series, but she couldn't tell the specifics under that. She'd learned long ago that it was pointless to even try.

"Whether they're ready or not, I'm going in there," Malfoy announced. He slammed his boot to the door and rushed into the darkness beyond.

Hermione sighed and pulled out her wand, following after him.

"I thought he was a coward," she heard Ron whisper to Harry as they trailed after her.

Draco took a deep breath of the foul-smelling air and slashed out at the vampire in front of him. The place was filthy and completely disgusting, but he felt better than he had all day. His heart was beating strongly and pumping adrenalin through his veins, giving him the rush he missed when not battling against some magical creature.

The pair of Gryffindor idiots had been right in their estimate that there was only three, and Draco was kind of disappointed. He could have really used the stress relief at the moment and only three probably wouldn't provide him with enough things to hit to work off all of his excess energy.

With a satisfying slice and then a thump, the head of the nearest vampire fell to the floor and then its body turned to dust. Immediately, Draco turned to face the other two.

One of them, the smarter one, was hanging back and watching the fight. He had armed himself with a knife instead of trying to take on Draco and his sword with only teeth and fangs. Draco went after the closer one, making the mistake of losing track of the other and allowing it to get behind his back.

There was a whooshing sound behind him that signified the one with the knife was going for his back, but Draco didn't have time to turn around. He braced for impact even while he sliced his blade through the second vampire's neck.

Draco didn't need to turn around to know that Granger had saved his butt. He wiped the thick, black blood of the vampires off of his sword before slipping it back in its scabbard. Just in case there were other vampires lurking around, Draco drew his wand. The sword wasn't exactly good for stealth and that's what he wanted at the moment.

Hermione let out a huff as she blocked another strike with a shield charm. She had seen the vampire heading for Malfoy's back and rushed into the fray just in time to cast a shield over him. The stupid git owed her for that. If he hadn't been so busy trying to get out his angry energy, then he would have noticed that vampire coming up behind him.

Not used to the different fighting style of vampires instead of wizards, Ron and Harry hung off to the side, their wands ready but not getting involved. It was best that they just left it to the professionals unless it looked like Hermione and Draco needed help.

Getting frustrated with the constant shield charms, Hermione slipped her wand back in her robes and drew her sword. With a quick slice that would make Malfoy proud, she cut the thing's head clean off of its shoulders. Hermione was all for the rights of Magical Creatures, but that was only if those magical creatures had souls – and weren't currently trying to kill her.

She could have used a sunlight charm, but that may have alerted anyone in the building who hadn't heard the fighting already that they had guests. Wrinkling her nose in distaste at the black blood staining her blade, Hermione walked back over to her friends.

"I thought you were a paper pusher," Ron said in awe.

Hermione shrugged. "Most of the time I am."

"Now we just have to find our guy," Harry said. He moved in the direction that Malfoy had disappeared in, but it turned out to be unnecessary.

On the second story, a window overlooking the production floor from what Hermione assumed had once been the manager's office shattered as a body came flying out. Hermione just had time to use a cushioning charm on the flailing and screaming man before he collided with the hard concrete of the main floor. The impact would have killed him had she not been so quick.

"That him?" Hermione asked, flicking her wand to roll her struggling captive onto his back.

Harry and Ron were still blinking. They probably did things with a little more finesse in the Auror department, but they had a lot more resources there and could afford said finesse. Hermione and Draco were used to working with what they'd been allowed, which was a small budget and very little back up staff.

She glanced up towards the office. Draco's head poked out of the jagged hole. "He slipped," the blond said with a roguish grin that Hermione knew had broken more than one heart in its time. No one believed him, not even a little bit.

"He's had a bad day," Hermione explained to her friends. She had a feeling that they weren't going to forget this little outing anytime soon. "Shouldn't one of you be arresting the suspect?"

Ron stepped forward and snapped a pair of magical cuffs on the man while Malfoy returned, looking almost cheerful – which for him meant that he wasn't scowling and one corner of his mouth was turned up in a smirk.

"You guys have an interesting way of handling things," Harry observed.

Shrugging, Hermione led the way back out of the building so they could make their way to the Apparition point. As Ron and Harry walked ahead, the prisoner trapped between them, Hermione and Draco fell back.

"You're in a better mood," Hermione quietly observed.

Malfoy looked at her out of the corner of his eyes. "You know how much better it makes me feel to hit things."

Mentally making a note to get him a punching bag or something to keep in his office, Hermione rolled her eyes at his simplicity; give him something to hit and he was content. It wasn't like he used his office for work, he might as well get a punching bag for it. Located across the hall from Hermione's, Malfoy's office was mostly just a place where he kept the things he didn't use. He preferred to lounge in the chair in Hermione's office instead of by himself in his own. She suspected he actually enjoyed her company but knew that he'd never admit it.

"You should probably go home," Hermione whispered. "I imagine your mum's beside herself by now since you didn't come home last night."

He shot her an expression so foul it could probably curdle milk. "Leave the mothering to my actual mother, Granger," he snapped.

"Are you two coming?" Harry called from the apparition point.

Hermione ignored Malfoy's dark look and hurried to catch up with her friends.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

**A/N: Hello readers! Thanks for your continued enthusiasm and to all the wonderful people who reviewed. I got impatient again, so here's another chapter. I might not be able to keep up the pace of every three days or so, since I had to take a break from editing, but I'll definitely be able to do at least once a week.**

**Also thanks to irianaceleste for betaing!**

**~Frosty**

"Is Malfoy _ever _on time?" Harry asked irritably.

Hermione glanced at her watch and shrugged. "It's not like he needs the money. He usually shows up around noon so I've had time to do most of the paperwork."

She could tell her friend was working up some righteous fury on her behalf. Harry, worried about her partnership with Malfoy after working with her and the blond just days before, had come to Hermione's office to pester her about requesting a partner change.

Ron had stayed professional while working with her, but Hermione was pretty sure he was now avoiding her. If he wasn't mature enough to realize that she was the same person she was before he knew that she was working with Malfoy, then she wasn't going to speak to him either. Hermione wouldn't let him know that his lack of communication was hurting her feelings.

"Hermione, don't you think it's a little unfair that he makes you do all of the paperwork?" Harry asked, bringing her attention back to the present. His voice was carefully neutral, but Hermione wasn't stupid, she could hear the contempt for her partner that was barely under the surface of his words. She wished everyone could just get along but wasn't so naive as to think it would be possible anytime soon.

"What your puny mind doesn't understand, Potter, is that she does the paperwork I hate and I do the dirty work that grates on her Gryffindor sensibilities," Malfoy drawled, coming into the room and sprawling himself into the single vacant chair. He sent Harry a foul look for occupying his favourite chair, but otherwise Hermione was impressed that Malfoy seemed to be on his best behaviour. Maybe it wasn't such a ridiculous idea that her friends and her partner would one day be able to work together in some semblance of peace.

Malfoy took a sip of his tea and Hermione tensed, waiting for a spew of insults against the poor girl at the coffee cart. She tilted her head slightly when nothing happened. He must have had a good morning and not loomed over the girl as she poured the coffee. For someone so self-aware, Malfoy sure had a lot of trouble understanding how intimidating he was when he loomed like that. Hermione doubted the poor girl could keep her thoughts straight, much less his order. It was near impossible for her to make a decent cup of coffee when her hands were shaking so much that she couldn't pour anything, but Draco struggled to understand this concept.

Bristling, Harry glared at the blond and opened his mouth, undoubtedly to say something scathing that would spur an argument. They'd been doing so well too. Hermione had obviously jumped the gun when she'd taken Harry's delayed reaction as acceptance of Draco's statement, when in reality he'd been building up to an explosion, not unlike a volcano. She was going to need to put a stop to it before her office was destroyed.

"Both of you will stay silent and let me finish this paperwork or you will leave," she snapped, using her best bossy voice. That very tone had worked for her mother to cow even the most unwilling children in the dentist's chair. Hermione hoped it would work for her on the full grown children with whom she was working.

Malfoy went back to sipping his tea, but Harry leaned towards her desk, trying to give her an understanding look. "Hermione," he glanced over at Malfoy, who appeared not to be paying attention, "If he's intimidating you or anything-"

"Honestly, Harry," she interrupted, "Intimidate me into what? Doing paperwork? Draco's paperwork is illegible and not even written by him. He gives it to House Elves!"

Malfoy snorted. "Actually, it's Goyle. Though I can understand how you'd think it was House Elves."

"Hermione..." Harry had that look on his face, the one where he wanted to save someone who didn't seem to want to be saved. What he was having trouble understanding was that she didn't _need _saving.

"Potter, give it up," Draco snapped. He was tired of Potter coming in and thinking he needed to save the world once more from the terrifying, evil Death Eater. Draco wasn't a Death Eater anymore and while he threatened half-heartedly, he had never meant Granger any harm. "I'm not going to hurt Granger. I have no ulterior motives for working here, and I really do take the jobs that her conscience doesn't let her do."

Harry looked at Hermione for confirmation. She nodded, her mind going to the time just last year when a mermaid had drowned several Muggle swimmers and they'd had to take her from her screaming children to bring her to the Ministry where she would more than likely be executed. Hermione had frozen, unable to take her away despite her knowledge that mermaids were independent from practically birth and didn't _need _their mother. It had been Malfoy who had brought in the wailing mermaid. He'd even been nice about it, sensing his partner's distress and not wanting to make the situation any worse for her.

Abruptly, Harry stood up from his chair. He needed time to process the strange new information about someone he'd thought he knew so well. "I'll see you at the Burrow this weekend?" he asked.

Hermione nodded again and waved him off.

Immediately, Malfoy cast a cleansing charm and then reclaimed the chair that Harry had occupied. "Your friends are even more annoying and meddlesome than you," he said, his nose wrinkled from the unpleasant experience of dealing with so much _Potter _in such a short period of time.

* * *

Hermione was waist deep in freezing water, searching through weeds for what the locals believed to be some type of water dragon that had been eating their cows. She was having a little difficulty keeping her footing in the sludgy lakebed when she couldn't really feel her feet.

Walking at her side was Malfoy, muttering angrily at anything and everything. There were bugs swarming everywhere and the water was lapping at him in a very uncomfortable place. He didn't even get to bring his sword since it wouldn't be effective against any type of dragon. All together, it was shaping up to be a horrendous day.

"I don't think there's anything here," Hermione sighed. They had been wading through the swamp, casting detection spells for the better part of the day. According to her spells, there were no magical creatures anywhere in the swamp.

"Fucking hell," Malfoy muttered irritably.

Hearing that he was more upset than the situation warranted, Hermione glanced over at him to see what had caught his attention. He was staring towards the shore and glaring fiercely.

"On the other side of the world, bollocks deep in a bloody swamp, and _still _Potter is here to pester me."

Hermione, following the direction of her partner's glare, saw that it was indeed Harry and Ron standing on the bank. It was too bad that they hadn't appeared earlier; she could have put them to work searching the swamp and spent less time in the freezing water.

"Any chance the pair of poofs have finally realized their love for each other and are only here on vacation?"

Hermione snorted. "Doubtful," she said, starting to wade back to shore. "For one thing, I'm not sure why a swamp would be anyone's honeymoon choice. The bugs alone would be enough to repel most tourists."

Bug repellent spells, like Muggle bug sprays, were only so effective. There were always enough bugs getting through and biting to leave Hermione scratching for days when she was exposed to such a concentration of biting insects.

Malfoy stayed where he was. "You go, I'll continue to look for a mythical creature that isn't here while standing in cold water."

Splashing her way to shore, Hermione made sure to hit Ron with a few stray drops of muddy water as she passed him. She didn't like the nasty look he had directed at her, and she didn't appreciate that he'd been ignoring her.

"What do you want, Harry? You're starting to interfere with our job."

His green eyes strayed to where Malfoy was in the water, poking idly at a lily pad with his wand while trying to intimidate a passing duck with his glare. "Yes, you look horribly busy," he said dryly. "We need your help."

She used her wand to remove the mud and water from her clothing and then crossed her arms. "You are aware that if you need my assistance with something work-related that means Draco comes as well, right?"

Harry and Ron shared a look but nodded. They must really need something if they were willing to put up with Draco after their last run-in with him.

"Fine," she sighed. "What do you need?"

"We need you to come to Egypt with us," Harry said flatly, getting right to the point.

"You're going to have to give me more than that." She wasn't all that fond of searching for a water dragon in the swampy mess, but it was her job and she wasn't just going to up and leave without a good reason.

"Remember that man that the vampires were hiding?"

Hermione rolled her eyes; of _course _she remembered, it had only been a week or so ago that they'd raided the vampire nest. Even in her line of work, something like that wasn't easily forgotten.

"Yes, Harry," she said when it seemed that he was waiting for an answer.

"He was part of a ring of creature smugglers. As far as we can tell, they're kidnapping magical creatures from around the world and pitting them against each other, much like Muggle dog or cock fights, but bigger."

Hermione paled, completely horrified. "Why haven't I heard of this sooner?" Preventing exactly that sort of terrible thing was her job, and here she had to hear about it from the Auror department.

"We've been interrogating vampire nest guy for days, but it's only today that he finally spoke up," Ron said. "He was waiting until it was too late to stop the rest of them to tell us anything."

"And Egypt?" Hermione asked.

"We're not positive, but from what we can gather, they're trying to get a sphinx for their underground creature fights," said Harry.

Nearly trembling with rage, Hermione turned around and motioned Malfoy over to them. Never in all her time working for the Ministry had she come across something so horrible as pitting magical creatures against each other and forcing them to fight. She just couldn't fathom human beings doing something so heartless. And she'd fought Death Eaters! Some of those people made Dementors seem warm and fuzzy.

Malfoy waded to shore, shooting one last glare at the duck over his shoulder. "Let me guess; they need our help again." He didn't sound particularly pleased with the idea.

Bending down to water level, Hermione scooped up a lily pad and plopped it on Malfoy's head before transfiguring it into a hat. As she leaned close under the pretense of adjusting it, she murmured, "Leave the duck along, I refuse to fill out another incident report just because you have a grudge against waterfowl." Something about a childhood trauma involving a flock of geese, some breadcrumbs and his inattentive father had left Draco with some... issues regarding ducks and their ilk. Hermione didn't question it, mostly because to do so would be similar to poking a beehive with a pointed stick.

He made an indignant sound, but Hermione ignored it as she transfigured a lily pad into a hat for herself as well.

Draco let her comment drop, in favour of complaining about their current situation. Arguing about the ducks in front of her idiot friends would only end up embarrassing him anyway.

"We're going to a bloody desert, aren't we?" he groaned. She only ever transfigured the hat for him when he was going to need it, and she only thought he needed it when he was going to be exposed to unreasonable amounts of sunlight.

He hated the sun almost as much as he hated the cold. Unfortunately Granger, he knew from experience, was a heartless bitch when it came to their trips. She refused to take his preferences into consideration when deciding which jobs they were going to take. Whenever Draco complained, she said he didn't get a say because he didn't do any of the paperwork.

If there was anything Draco hated more than uncomfortable climates, it was forms, so he continued to suffer but was free of the vile forms. It was a horrible trade off, but he felt that he'd received the better end of the deal.

"What's wrong, Malfoy, can't let your skin get any colour?" Potter mocked, seeing the blond's look of distaste.

"If this really is an international creature smuggling operation, you three are going to have to learn to work together," Hermione snapped, pushing her way between the two posturing males. It was like she was working with a bunch of toddlers!

"Smuggling operation?" Malfoy asked.

Hermione started to explain as Harry pulled out his Portkey.

* * *

Having had much more practice with Portkeys since the first time she'd used one in fourth year, Hermione managed to land on her feet. Her three companions managed similarly coordinated landings, Draco's and Harry's were very nearly graceful.

"What's the plan?" Hermione asked, knowing that Harry probably had their whole operation planned. He liked being right there in the action, and she knew from their school days that even if she planned something out, chances were that Harry would just do whatever he thought was right anyway. As much as he would deny it, Harry preferred to be the one calling the shots.

"We're going to find the Sphinx before they do." Harry hesitated and then looked at Hermione. "I'm not exactly sure where they would live though."

She sighed. "Follow me."

* * *

"I can't believe they're going to book the hotel and leave _us _to scour the desert," Malfoy muttered. He lifted one of his formerly shiny shoes and looked at the damage the mud and then the sand had done to them. Sure, they had protective spells on them to stop scuffs and such, but slogging through a swamp and then wandering in a desert were just beyond the reach of any spells. The shoes were going to have to be replaced when he got back home.

"And I can't believe they waited until we were already here to tell us that we were going to stay for as long as it will take to find something," Hermione said in a tone closely resembling Malfoy's. Both of them were not very happy with Ron and Harry at the moment.

They were currently in the middle of a desert somewhere in Egypt, searching for a sphinx in hopes of finding it before the people in charge of the creature fights could. They were essentially looking for a needle in a haystack – a very large, very hot haystack.

A gust of wind whipped over the sand, pelting them with a rain of tiny granules. Hermione blinked her eyes several times, trying to clear them of the sand, but really only succeeding in getting the suddenly sharp little granules lodged further into her eyes.

"I need to get a job that doesn't involve travelling to some of the most uncomfortable places in the world," Draco complained as he tried to brush sand out of his hair.

"You'd end up killing someone if you tried to work a desk job." Hermione wasn't paying much attention to their conversation; she had spotted something a few metres away. Rushing over, she bent down to examine the indent in the sand that looked suspiciously like a paw print, a _lion's paw print_.

Her neck prickled as a shadow fell over the patch of sand she'd been examining. Malfoy was looming over her in that impatient way he had.

"Granger?" he asked.

Missing the urgency in his voice she didn't turn to look at him. "Mmm?"

"What does the file say to do in the event that you come across a heard of manticores?"

Hermione scoffed. "Manticores don't travel in herds. You'd know that if you'd read the file. One day reading the file is going to save your - _what are you doing_?" she demanded as he yanked her to her feet midsentence.

"The file's wrong," he said, his fingers tight around her hand as he pulled her along behind him.

Hermione looked over her shoulder and nearly stumbled when she saw what was behind him. Kicking up enough dust that it looked like a sandstorm was approaching was what appeared to be a herd of manticores. Either her files were wrong or someone had deliberately gathered the creatures and then incited them to a stampede. Hermione was leaning towards the latter; her files were _never _wrong.

Malfoy had his wand out, trying to Apparate them away while he swore furiously.

"Won't work," Hermione gasped, trying to keep up with his longer legs. "The manticore's horrible high voice has been known to short out magic when near enough. No one's sure how they do it."

"Only you would think this is a good time for imparting useless facts." At her words, he had angrily shoved his wand back into his pocket and looked around for something that could help them. There weren't even any cacti in sight to use as cover.

Hermione, also looking around for some way to save them, ignored his barb. She had much more important things with which to concern herself than Malfoy. First and foremost among those things was finding a way to survive a manticore stampede.

A sharp pain in her side made Hermione stumble and nearly fall. Only Malfoy's firm grip on her hand allowed her to keep her balance and continue running.

He glanced over at her, feeling the tug as she regained her balance. "Any ideas?" he asked.

Hermione was in pretty good shape - she needed to be to avoid death is just such a situation - but even she wasn't going to be able to maintain their all-out sprint for much longer. Already she could feel her muscles aching with strain and sweat streaking down her skin. She was losing a lot of moisture and had left her water bottle when they'd fled.

She licked her dry lips with a tongue sticky from thirst, desperately searching the horizon. They reached what she had thought to be a slight indent in the ground as she searched.

It wasn't an indent.

Hermione screamed as they plummeted into darkness.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

**A/N: Another chapter! *grins* So when I said I wouldn't be able to keep up the every three days pace, I meant that I couldn't keep it up indefinitely... **

**Anyway, thanks to everyone who reviewed and to irianaceleste for betaing! I'm glad you guys are liking this story! I've abused the exclamation point again...**

**~Frosty**

Luckily, they didn't have far to fall. There was barely time for Hermione to let out a yelp of surprise before they thumped to the stone floor.

Hermione's fall was softened somewhat by landing on top of Malfoy, something he didn't seem to appreciate if his swearing was any indication. She hoped she hadn't seriously injured him; while she wasn't overweight or anything, she certainly weighed enough to injure him if he landed in a bad position.

Wrapping his hands around her hips, Malfoy pushed her off of him. The gesture wasn't violent, but he wasn't exactly gentle about it. He didn't appreciate being nearly crushed.

For the second time in only moments, Hermione found herself in a heap on the floor. This time her landing hadn't been padded. She appeared to have fallen on stone.

"Where the hell are we?" Malfoy wondered. He had moved away from the entrance they'd fallen through and was exploring what seemed to be some sort of old ruin. The floor was stone and there appeared to be pictures painted on the wall at the far end. Tall drifts of sand piled under the hole in the ceiling, almost reaching the opening above them. Hermione suspected that it wouldn't be long before the ever-shifting sand completely hid their shelter.

A twinge of pain as she sifted made her glance down at her side to see what had caused it. She blanched upon discovering the source of her discomfort. _That _wasn't good.

Draco had fallen pretty hard, his impact only worsened by Granger falling right on top of him. His entire back felt like one big bruise. As painful as his injuries were, he hadn't thought any of them would be bad enough to make him bleed. Why then, was his hand coated in blood?

"Malfoy," Hermione said faintly.

He made the connection as he heard the pain in her voice; it wasn't his blood, it was_hers_. Draco rushed back to her side and knelt down beside her.

"Bloody hell," he murmured, seeing the stinger protruding from her side.

Hermione grabbed his wrist as his hand reached to pull it out. "Malfoy, listen to me," she ordered hoarsely, knowing he hadn't read the file and had no idea what to do with her injury. "Manticores can shoot spines out of their tails like arrows. They're poisonous, but it won't kill me. It will, however paralyse me for several hours, which will most likely followed by a delirious fever. You have to get me back to the hotel and keep me cool."

His eyes were too wide and bright with panic, but he nodded. With more gentleness than he'd shown anything in years, Draco slipped an arm under her knees and another under her back before lifting her into his arms. His back protested by sending jolts of pain down his spine, but there wasn't much else he could do.

She whimpered as he moved her, sounding more like a little girl than the fierce woman he knew her to be. It was surprising to see her looking so helpless, completely at his mercy. It lit something within him, some long-buried protective instincts that made him pull her a little closer and rub her shoulder reassuringly with the hand that rested there.

Apparition was the only way they were going to get out of there alive, Draco could only hope that the added insulation the stone walls and sand offered was enough to keep the magic-dampening sound of the manticores at bay long enough for him to cast the spell. Eyes closed in concentration, Draco hoisted Granger a little closer and turned on the spot.

* * *

Draco had no idea where he was. Granger had always been the one to navigate – not that she'd really done a good job, he just couldn't be bothered to attempt reading a map. Very occasionally, he would snatch the thing from her and guide them to their destination. It always amused him how put out Granger would look after he had easily guided her to a destination that she'd been unable to find. She may be a bookworm, but directions were not her strong suit.

He glanced down at the brunette in his arms. She had gone completely limp shortly after he'd appeared in the middle of a Muggle street. Her deep brown eyes were still open and staring up at him with pain, but also with trust. Granger's life was literally in his hands and Draco was determined not to let her down.

Eventually, having not been able to find any alternatives, Draco lowered himself to asking a Muggle for directions to the hotel. The whole situation had only been worsened by the concerned looks the man had kept shooting towards the barely-conscious woman Draco had been holding at the time. The Muggle had eventually been persuaded that Granger had merely indulged in a little too much wine at dinner, but Draco had caught the man shooting him suspicious glances as he walked towards the hotel. All in all, it was an experience Draco wasn't in the least eager to repeat.

He found Potter and Weasley, the useless wankers that they were, just sitting in the bar of the hotel, drinking their way through what Draco could only assume to be everything. Affronted by their merrymaking while their friend had been in danger, Draco glared at them fiercely as he stood in the doorway to the bar.

"Potter, Weasley, I need the room key," Draco snapped at them. His arms and back were both burning with exertion and he was starting to get really dehydrated. Not to mention his nose was starting to feel tingly. If he got a sunburn, he was going to make something explode, probably the Weasel.

"What happened?" Harry demanded, immediately rushing to take his friend from the arms of his enemy. For some reason, Malfoy refused to relinquish the limp brunette and an awkward struggle ensued. Draco won.

"Just give me the key," the blond gritted out through clenched teeth.

Not really understanding what had gotten into Malfoy, Harry reached into his pocket and pulled out the key. He didn't hand it over though, much to the former Slytherin's displeasure.

"Follow me," Harry said, leading the way to one of the rooms he had booked.

Draco watched Potter use not a key but some sort of card to open the door. He wasn't going to question it though; he brushed past the other man and gently placed Granger on the bed. He didn't even comment on how hideous the room was – and it was really, _really _hideous.

The beige of the walls blended almost completely with the beige of the comforter on the bed and the exact beige of the sofa off in the corner. It was horrible. If he didn't have depth perception, he was sure the room would be positively hazardous.

"What's wrong with her, Malfoy?" Potter demanded as if it had been Draco who injured her.

Ignoring the two hovering Gryffindors, Draco gently pulled up the corner of her sticky shirt and took a look at the wound. He was no Healer, but he had certainly had his share of wounds in the past, so he had a general idea about what needed to be done.

In an attempt to stop her from losing more blood than necessary, he had left the spine in the wound. The edges had clotted and crusted slightly in the time it had taken to get her to the hotel, and somewhere along the line, sand had stuck to a few places. Had there been a Healer present, Draco wouldn't have even stayed in the room while she was healed, but Granger needed him, so he repressed the urge to gag. Malfoys were not meant for healing.

His eyes darted up to meet Granger's eyes. She was still watching him with that trusting look. Since when did people trust him? Then again, he had always known she was barmy.

"This is going to hurt," he warned. "Though it's not like you can move either way."

Weasel objected to that, but Draco didn't pay him any mind. Granger's eyes didn't waver as he gently pulled the spine from her skin, and Potter restrained the Weasel from being an idiot and interfering in things that didn't need his interference.

For Hermione, being completely aware of her surroundings yet entirely immobile was a strange situation for her – she imagined that it would be a strange situation for anyone. Her pain prevented her from fully appreciating the oddness though. She just wanted to curl in a ball around her side and moan. While she wasn't able to curl into a ball, she did let out a strangled little whimper as Malfoy pulled the spine from her flesh. It more than doubled the pain, making her wish she could just fall unconscious.

She knew Ron and Harry were freaking out, but something about Malfoy's treatment of her must have encouraged Harry enough to trust him. That was the only reason Harry would restrain Ron from tackling Malfoy and attempting to heal the wound himself. Having seen Ron heal before, Hermione was glad that Harry was there to restrain him. Harry watched Malfoy's every move like a hawk intent on its prey, but he didn't interfere.

Draco tossed the spine into the rubbish bin. The thing was wicked sharp and as long as his middle finger, it was a wonder that it hadn't wedged deeper into her side. She was lucky nothing major had been punctured or she would have bled out before they reached the hotel.

Free of the spine that had been blocking it, Granger's blood welled in the wound, quickly overflowing onto the beige comforter. Well, at least the next person without depth perception would be able to differentiate the bed from the rest of the room. His eyes darted up to meet Granger's once more, trying to think of what she would do had the situation been reversed.

Recalling a charm that had been used on him a number of times, Draco quickly disinfected the wound and then knitted the tissue back into a single seamless piece. The pain in her eyes faded and her lips tilted up slightly at the corners.

Draco let out a sigh of relief and trailed his fingers over the newly-healed skin - just to reassure himself that it really was fine, of course.

When his fingers touched her, Hermione felt a tingly, ticklish sensation. She wished she had the use of her muscles so she could wriggle away from his gentle caress. She wasn't supposed to be feeling that type of thing for Malfoy and couldn't understand what was different about this time verses every other time they had come into contact.

"She's healed. Now get away from her, Malfoy," Ron ordered. Hermione wanted to yell at him for being an idiot. It was obvious that Malfoy had held no ill intentions towards her, he had been saving her life and had done what he needed to as gently as possible. She was irritated that Ron couldn't see what even Harry had realized.

Hermione turned her eyes to Draco, trying to tell him without words that he shouldn't listen to Ron, but he wasn't looking at her. Angrily, he stood from his crouched position and stalked out of the room, pausing at the door only to tell them to make sure she stayed cool once the fever set in.

* * *

Hermione woke up in the bathtub, fully clothed and shivering. There was a horrible ache in her neck from the strange angle it was resting against the hard tiles. Very slowly and carefully, she straightened herself into a more comfortable position and turned her head with painful slowness, a grimace disfiguring her face the entire time.

She blinked confusedly at the redhead slumped on the closed toilet lid, apparently asleep.

Hermione frowned. "Were you trying to drown me or were you just waiting for the hypothermia to do away with me?" she croaked, still sore at him for the way he'd treated Draco.

Ron started so badly that he fell off the toilet, getting wedged between the wall and the porcelain toilet basin. He made a garbled sound of distress that had Hermione in a fit of giggles despite her chattering teeth and sore neck.

As Ron tried to right himself, still making grunts of distress at being stuck, Hermione attempted to pull herself out of the water. Her giggling stopped as she realized that, while she could move once more, she didn't have the strength to pull her water-logged clothing and body from the tub. Her arms shook with the effort of levering herself from the water and then gave out, leaving her irritated and shivering.

"Hermione, you're awake," Ron said, having finally freed himself from the space beside the toilet. He stood over her at the edge of the tub, looking unsure about what he should be doing.

"Help me out of here!" Hermione snapped, not willing to bother with manners when her toes were probably going to start falling off from the cold at any moment.

Ron grabbed her under her arms and lifted her from the tub and then threw her over his shoulder in a fireman's lift. The blow to her stomach knocked the wind out of her, leaving Hermione only able to gasp like a fish out of water while he carried her out of the bathroom and then flopped her down on the bed. His bedside manner really left something to be desired. If she hadn't been struggling to regain her breathing, she would have given him an earful for throwing her around like a sack of potatoes.

"Are you feeling better? You're not still delirious, are you?" Ron asked worriedly. He tugged absently on the comforter to straighten out the bedclothes underneath her.

Hermione looked at him in disbelief, her hair plastered to her head, her teeth still chattering, and a dark stain spreading on the bed from where the water of her clothes soaked into the beige fabric and turned it into an unappealing brown. She raised her eyebrows at him, waiting for him to get the hint and cast a drying charm on her.

He didn't get it, merely continuing to watch her anxiously and fiddling with the blanket. There was a faded brownish patch that she realized was dried blood that hadn't quite come out with vanishing spells. Ron avoided even glancing at that spot.

"She's awake?" Harry asked, slipping into the room.

"I am," Hermione answered for Ron, since the redhead remained silent. "But I think it's Ron we should be worried about, he fell off the toilet and his head kind of hard."

A particularly violent shiver wracked her body at that moment and Harry finally noticed that she was soaking wet and obviously very cold. He cast a drying charm and then a warming charm, tucking her under the blankets for good measure. She felt so much better and smiled at Harry to show her thanks.

"Ron, I think you should go back to our room and lay down." The redhead was looking a little woozy, swaying slightly on his feet. He gave a nod, looking like he instantly regretted it as the movement hurt his already aching head.

"You were screaming all night," Harry said as Ron shuffled out of the room. "Neither of us have managed to get much sleep."

Hermione nodded and rubbed a hand over her face. Now that she was warmer, she was starting to feel more like herself again. "How long was I delirious?"

"The rest of the day after you got back and then last night. That was it," Harry said. He looked almost as tired as Ron had before he'd shuffled away.

"Did I keep you two awake?"

Harry snorted. "If we hadn't silenced the room, you would have kept the whole _hotel _awake. But we don't blame you," he said quickly, "We're sure whatever happened was entirely Malfoy's fault."

Her eyebrows drew together. "That's not true; it was no one's fault." She paused. "Where _is _Malfoy?"

"We haven't seen him since he stormed out of here yesterday." Harry didn't look all that concerned about the fact that Malfoy was essentially missing. As his partner however, it was her responsibility to be concerned about his whereabouts. Not only that, but she was concerned about him. He had saved her and then her friends had chased him off like a criminal.

She sighed deeply before levering herself out of bed. It was considerably easier to move when she wasn't shaking so badly and didn't have wet clothes weighing her down. Her body still didn't have the strength that it usually did, but she couldn't really expect it to after days of being sick.

"Where are you going?" Harry demanded.

"To find Malfoy. I fell on him rather hard while we were in the desert and I want to make sure he's okay." Harry could only stare in shock as she grabbed a clean set of clothes and disappeared into the bathroom to change.

By the time she came back out, Harry had regained control of his voice. "Hermione, he didn't come to check on you once while you were screaming bloody murder and burning up, and yet the first thing you do is worry about _him_."

Hermione walked past him, having to lean in the doorway for a moment as she was besieged by a wave of dizziness. She was going to have to grab some toast or something on her way out of the hotel.

Harry watched her worriedly, but knew better than to try and stop her when she got that determined look in her eyes. "How do you even know where he is? This city is huge!"

Despite the objections he wished to voice, he obediently followed after her as she left the room and headed towards the exit.

"Easy," she shrugged. "He's Malfoy."


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

**A/N: Hello readers! 25 reviews in only 2 days! I was shocked. And happy, of course. So thanks! As I'm sure you can tell by now, I have zero self control with anything word related (books, talking too much, writing...), so I'm updating again.**

**My computer is angry at me right now... possibly because I dropped it. The question mark, space bar, and occasionally the h don't work like they should. Just thought you guys should know.**

**Also! A huge thanks to irianaceleste for betaing!**

**~Frosty**

They stood on the sidewalk for a moment, staring up at the large, very shiny building that towered over them. The people going in and out of the building were giving the two apparently crazy people on the sidewalk superior and contemptuous looks as they pointedly stepped around them. Yep, they were in the right place.

"The most expensive hotel in the city," Harry said flatly, "You're _sure _this is where he is?"

Hermione nodded. They had asked several pedestrians that had been passing their own, much cheaper hotel and the general consensus seemed to be that the most expensive place one could spend the night was the huge shiny building at which Hermione and Harry were currently staring.

Feeling a little out of place in her wrinkled clothes, Hermione entered the lobby and walked confidently up to the front desk. People gave her a few strange looks, but no one actually objected to her presence. She'd been somewhat desensitised to strange looks while standing outside the hotel anyway.

"Can I help you?" asked the teenager behind the desk. She, like everyone else, didn't openly object to Hermione's appearance, but she did screw up her face in a disapproving expression. Hermione's translation charm allowed her to understand what the girl was saying, the disapproving tone however, was universal and didn't need the charm's help.

"I'm looking for a friend of mine who's staying here. Malfoy," Hermione said.

The girl scrunched up her nose. "It's against company policy to give out the names of our guests."

"Hermione, maybe we should go," Harry was looking incredibly uncomfortable under the disapproving stares of pretty much everyone present in the lobby. She would have thought that fifth year had fixed any self consciousness he had. It took a moment for Hermione to realize what was really going through his mind; he thought she was wrong. Harry suspected that she was still a little delirious and was making a fool of herself.

"Hermione?" the girl asked, suddenly much more accommodating. "Hermione Granger?"

Completely confused, Hermione nodded.

The girl shuffled around behind the desk for a moment before producing a shiny plastic swipe card. "You just take the elevator to the top. The room's the whole floor, so it's not like you can miss it. You'll have to swipe the card before the doors will open."

"What's going on?" Harry asked as he followed Hermione to the elevator.

"We've definitely found Malfoy," Hermione said dryly. She pushed the button for the top and then swiped the card so the doors would open. The smugness at being right was exuding from Hermione in a very Malfoy-esque manner. That would teach Harry not to doubt her; she knew her partner well.

"My eyes!" Harry groaned the second the elevator doors opened. He started frantically pressing the door close button, but Hermione grabbed his arm and dragged him into the main area of what she assumed was an unreasonably large hotel suite.

"He's not naked, Harry," Hermione snapped irritably. She hoped Harry didn't realize that she knew Malfoy wasn't completely naked because she'd looked – possibly a little closer than necessary. He was laying face-down on a massage table, a towel keeping him decent. There was a woman dressed in the hotel's colours rubbing his shoulders.

Hermione resolutely kept her eyes on the top of his blond head.

"Granger, you're ruining my relaxation time with the presence of Potter," Malfoy said, his voice muffled because he didn't bother to lift his head. "It's bad enough that you _land _on me and completely throw out my back and then make me carry you, but now you bring Potter here to impede my recovery?"

Hermione walked over to the table to get a better look at his back – for medical reasons, of course. She certainly wasn't paying attention to the smooth expanse of his skin and the way his muscles shifted when he moved. He did have a rather large bruise. The masseuse seemed to have it handled though.

A lightheaded feeling hit her suddenly, making her sway and grab the edge of the massage table to keep herself upright. Apparently she'd needed more than a single piece of toast to ward off her dizziness. Draco grabbed her wrist as Harry rushed over to steady her.

"Are you all right?" Harry asked.

She nodded. "I think I just need to sit down."

"Down the hall and to the left is your room," Malfoy said, gesturing vaguely without lifting his head. With his head down on the table, Hermione had no idea how he'd known to grab her wrist to steady her.

Harry helped Hermione to the room Malfoy had indicated before coming back to confront the blond.

"She spent the entire night screaming bloody murder and you don't even care enough to ask if she's okay?"

Malfoy finally raised his head, an eyebrow arched mockingly. "I booked an extra room for her, what more do you expect from me?"

"While she was delirious, it was _you _she was calling for. I expect you not to abandon her like that," Harry was pleased to see Malfoy looked a little like someone had just punched him in the stomach – repeatedly. Internally, Harry grinned to himself victoriously. He wasn't even finished yet; Malfoy would think twice before abandoning Hermione in the future. "And do you know what the first thing she did as soon as she woke up? She came to find you because she was worried that she'd hurt you when she fell on you."

He made sure Malfoy had seen his disgust before turning to leave. Let the bastard stew in how much of a horrible person he was. Malfoy deserved it after just leaving when Hermione was so vulnerable. Harry was almost at the elevator when Malfoy spoke again. "Why the hell are you leaving her with me if you think I'm so horrible?"

"Because despite that, you made sure she was taken care of before you left."

* * *

"Bloody Potter," Draco swore to himself as the elevator clanged shut. Just because the Gryffindors were willing to hang around and make sure everyone they had saved was going to pull through didn't mean that Draco had to do the same thing. He had fled before Granger's big eyes and vulnerability sparked anymore irritating protective feelings in him. He was supposed to be revelling in her prone position, not fixing her and then holding her hand through her recovery.

He frowned. Okay, so she was his partner and he'd never once revelled in her pain and suffering, not even when they'd been back in school and he'd claimed to. He certainly hadn't enjoyed it when she had been writhing on the floor, screaming as his insane aunt carved her skin with all the delight of a child having just received a new toy. That memory was actually part of his motivation for agreeing to partner with Granger. He'd felt that he owed her for not putting a stop to his aunt's insanity, and what better way to do that than keeping the meddling Gryffindor from getting herself killed at work?

Waving off the masseuse, he got up from the table and stalked to his room to grab some clothes. While he'd been enjoying Potter's horror too much to correct the moron, Draco had never removed his boxers under the towel. The masseuse had looked terrified enough when he'd been half clothed, he hadn't wanted to intimidate her further, lest she be too nervous to give him a proper massage. He wasn't going to tell Granger this either, she'd just accuse him of looming over people again – which he _hadn't _been. The massage girl was just short; anyone would loom over such a petite woman.

Fully clothed, Draco slipped into Granger's room and stared at her for a moment. Much like a cat, she had curled around herself into a tight ball, her injured side facing up. He couldn't imagine she was comfortable like that.

Draco wasn't really sure what he'd thought he would accomplish by sneaking into Granger's room and watching her sleep like some sort of... pervert. He hesitated halfway to her bed. What was he planning on doing? Waking her up and apologising for leaving her?

Scowling at himself, Draco stood frozen. Very few people had the ability to inspire such indecision in him and he hated Granger for being one of them.

With a quiet growl, he whipped around and stalked from the room, only restraining himself from slamming the door because he knew she would have started with her insufferable questions had the sound stirred her. He definitely hadn't wanted her to get some rest so that she could completely recover or anything unnecessarily soft like that.

* * *

Hermione uncurled herself and stretched her arms over her head, wincing when her recently injured side objected to the movement. The wound may have been healed, but there was still an ache she knew would linger for a few days. Her bed was immensely comfortable, and Hermione found that she much preferred waking up in a luxurious bed to waking up in a bathtub filled with freezing water. It was one of her strange personal quirks.

She rolled her eyes at Ron's carelessness. It would have been incredibly easy for her to shift slightly in her sleep and slide under the water. She would have drowned before he heard her and crossed the bathroom, especially if he had fallen off of the toilet on his way there.

Climbing from the bed, Hermione reminded herself that Ron hadn't meant to fall asleep and that her bout of venom-induced delirium had passed with no lasting damage. Her friends had done their best to ensure that she was fine, and she had survived.

She frowned when she saw that her bottomless bag was sitting at the foot of her bed. Hermione had been under the impression that she had left it at the other hotel with Harry and Ron. Malfoy must have sent for it after she had fallen asleep. His touching thoughtfulness caused a small smile to bloom on her lips.

Fishing out some clean clothes, Hermione showered in her en suite before grabbing a book and heading off in search of Draco and some nourishment.

She didn't have to go far; he was seated in the main part of the suite eating breakfast from a room service cart that was pulled up beside the table. Her stomach rumbled loudly at just the idea of food. The piece of toast after her illness hadn't been enough to nourish her. What she needed was something much more substantial.

"I ordered you something disgusting," he said without looking up from his pancakes.

Hermione peeked under the covered plate remaining on the cart and rolled her eyes. It was bacon and eggs. "There's nothing disgusting about bacon, Draco."

His nose scrunched into a look of disgust and he finally looked up from his food so she could better see his repulsed expression. "Meat is not supposed to be crunchy," he enunciated clearly before turning back to his own food.

"I apologise for offending your delicate sensibilities." Just to further offend his sensibilities, she took a loud, crunchy bite of bacon. She could actually _see _the shudder of revulsion work its way over Malfoy despite his efforts to suppress the involuntary reaction. "For someone who enjoys spending time beheading things, you have a remarkably touchy countenance."

He ignored her and pushed his plate to the side as she continued to happily crunch on her bacon. Hermione didn't care what Malfoy said, she wasn't going to forgo bacon just because her pansy of a partner couldn't handle a little crunchy meat product. Besides, she needed the protein and iron after losing so much blood the other day.

"If it helps," she said when she'd finished the first slice, "It tastes better when you dip it in ketchup."

Malfoy looked positively green. "Ketchup is for peasants." He stood and stalked from the room, unable to stand even listening to Hermione eat the food that offended him so. Her laughter followed him out of the room.

* * *

Hermione was reading through a text on various different magical creatures that lived in the area. The people after the sphinx were most likely long gone, but she and Draco were still going to go back into the desert later to see if they could find some clues. This time, just in case something like a random herd of manticores were to appear, they were going to be accompanied by Harry and Ron.

"Where's Malfoy?" Ron asked as the elevator dinged open and admitted him and Harry into the suite. Harry had obviously told the redhead about the massage incident before since neither of them had been willing to look directly into the suite until they had ascertained that Draco wasn't in sight.

Hermione closed her book as they joined her on the sofa. "My breakfast didn't agree with him."

They both looked a little confused, but Hermione wasn't stupid enough to tell them about her partner's personal business. She knew her friends, and they'd both risk heart attacks just to watch Malfoy cringe as they wandered around eating bacon all the time. Hell, it wouldn't surprise her if Ron already went around with a bag of bacon in one of his pockets in case he ever got hungry.

"Are you feeling better?" Harry asked.

After reassuring them that she was going to be perfectly fine, Hermione went off in search of her partner. The suite wasn't all that big; there were only so many places where he could be hiding.

Hermione found him on the balcony, lounging in the shade under an umbrella. She snorted; it figured that he was avoiding the sun as much as possible. With such pale skin, Malfoy didn't really tan, he only burned. In fact, she was surprised that he was outside at all considering he could probably still burn even while sheltered under his umbrella.

"What are you doing out here?" she asked.

His head tilted so he could look at her over the rims of his sunglasses. "This hotel is crawling with Gryffindors, it's disgusting. I needed to get out before I start saving people or something."

Hermione rolled her eyes. "You've worked with me for years and have yet to give in to your Gryffindor side. I'm sure you'll be fine. Harry and Ron are waiting."

"You're not doing a very good job of making me want to come with you," he grumbled.

She already had the door open and was walking back to her two friends. "You can kick a puppy on our way to the desert if that will make you feel more Slytherin. Now come on. I want to-"

"Look at a few magical creatures while we're here," he interrupted. "You've got a new book and are just _dying _to test some theories."

Hermione glared. "I do _not _sound like that."

"Actually Hermione," Ron said, "I hate to agree with thee ferret, but you kind of do."

"Exactly like that, just higher pitched," Harry added.

She glared at them all. Since when had it become a conspiracy against her? On one hand, she was annoyed that they were teaming up against her, but on the other hand, she was glad that her friends and her partner had finally found some common ground.

"We have to get going," Harry said. "There's a magical tour group that's going out into the desert. They guaranteed that every tour group would see a sphinx. I figure we'll have more luck with that than you two running off into the desert and nearly getting killed."

Hermione bristled at the implication that they weren't competent at their job. It was Malfoy though who voiced his displeasure. "I'd like to see you two morons against a herd of manticores. My bet is you'd be holding each other and crying like the pre-teen girls you really are."

For once, Hermione just didn't feel like defending her friends against the blond's sharp tongue. They deserved to be mocked for laughing at her with Malfoy. Her injury hadn't been funny when she'd been in the bathtub screaming, but they forgot about that at the first chance to mock her partner.

Harry and Ron started throwing insults and denials at Malfoy, but their target wasn't interested in the least. Having been paying closer attention to the blond than her two friends, a little worried that he would attack, Hermione was the only one who noticed him reach for his wand. Of course, this spurred her to also reach for hers, knowing that she was going to need it to break up a duel, should one develop. Draco, who made it a habit to keep an eye on his partner when he thought she might hex him for getting mouthy, subtly shook his head at her. He wasn't going to harm her precious – and incredibly annoying – friends. Twisting on the spot, Draco Apparated away.

It actually took Harry and Ron a second to notice that the object of their insults was no longer there.

"Where'd he go?" Ron demanded, glaring at Hermione like she had personally hidden the blond.

Draco answered the question himself but striding confidently out of his room, his sword strapped to his hip. Horrible visions of Draco trying to behead Harry fluttered through her mind, but she immediately dismissed them. If Draco was going to kill Harry, it would be in a way that couldn't be traced back to him. Somehow, this thought only barely comforted her.

Seeing her looking askance at him, Draco patted the hilt. "You might want yours as well, Granger. I'm not risking going up against a manticore completely unarmed again."

"How are you going to explain that to the Muggles?" Harry demanded. "You do realize that we're going to _walk_ to the tour. On Muggle streets."

Draco looked at Harry like the other man was s few screws short of a stable structure. "I'm a wizard, Potter. I'm sure I can work out some sort of solution."


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

**A/N: Hello readers! I was looking at new laptops today and I'm quite excited! *whispering* Don't tell my current one though, he already has performance problems. **

**Anyway! New chapter! Thanks so much to everyone who reviewed, and especially to those who consistently review. Also thanks to irianaceleste for betaing.**

**~Frosty**

Draco sighed irritably. He was standing out in the desert sun, probably burning his aristocratic skin, and no one else cared. Melanomas were serious business and he refused to die from something so _mundane _after surviving Voldemort and various dangerous magical creatures that wanted to kill him. Muggles died from Melanomas, not Malfoys. His mood was only worsened by the unpleasant company he was being forced to endure.

"Come on, Hermione, we need to get going," the Red Weasel whined in that grating way that seemed to come to him naturally. Draco could only assume that such a tone was the result of growing up in poverty with so many siblings; the smallest of the brood needed to learn a way to get the attention of his parental units in order to survive, and what better way than a grating whine?

In this situation though, Draco had to agree with the Weasel; Granger needed to get her butt moving. His bushy-haired partner was bent down, raptly examining a small lizard that they'd passed while walking down the street.

"I clearly saw this lizard disappear and then reappear over here," she insisted, bending to look closer at the small reptile that had frozen in fear the moment her shadow crossed over it.

Draco rolled his eyes to the Heavens. What had he done in a past life to deserve these crazy people?

"You're not handling her right," he muttered to the idiot twins. The two Aurors had been whining at Hermione for a while, and it was obviously not working. They'd known her much longer than Draco had, and yet he was the one who knew how to put a stop to her bouts of scholarly excitement. The adaptive abilities of Gryffindors were seriously lacking. So much time could have been saved if they had just learned how to handle their friend years earlier.

"Come on, Granger. You can play with the lizard later," he said in a condescending tone meant to anger her. It didn't work, but it did make her look up from the lizard.

"But Draco, this could be the-"

"Discovery of the century, I'm sure," he drawled. While she was glaring at him, he shot a sleeping spell at the little reptile, ignoring his partner's screech of protest. Another wave of his wand had the little lizard in a glass case and then he banished the entire thing back to their hotel room.

"There's a map of exactly where you found it on the bottom of the case. Your little specimen will be waiting for you at the hotel." His tone left no room for argument.

Hermione huffed and stood up. It had been bad enough when it was just Malfoy giving her a hard time while she worked and then Harry and Ron giving her a hard time after work. Now all three of them were against her! She wasn't sure that she was so pleased that they were getting along anymore.

"You better not have hurt the poor thing," she scolded Malfoy.

He rolled his eyes and gestured for Harry to continue leading the way towards the tour of his that was going to take them to see a sphinx. The looks on both Auror's faces made it clear that they were mentally taking notes. Draco's lips lifted in a secret little smirk. He had a feeling that Granger would hex them both if they ever tried to do the same thing.

* * *

Draco looked at the sign and then back at Potter, scowling in disgust at the Auror's idiocy. If his slightly overbearing mother and mind-numbing boredom weren't waiting for him at home, Draco would have quit his job then and there.

"Do they not include _reading _in your Auror training?" he demanded, his voice laced with disgust. Hermione and Ron weren't really looking all that pleased with their friend either.

Arms crossed defensively, Harry didn't look all that pleased either. "I stopped reading the brochure after it said they guaranteed seeing a sphinx!"

Draco grabbed one of the pamphlets on display at the little kiosk and waved it around, the paper crackling in the dry air. "It says '_couple's tour_' in the title!"

"I'm sure it won't be so bad," Hermione said, trying to soothe them a little before they started exchanging blows. "We'll just pretend that the 'romantic atmosphere' doesn't exist."

Malfoy's eyes widened in disbelief. "We have to sit through a candlelit dinner!"

"Every dinner at Hogwarts was lit by candles."

Ron, who had remained silent until this point, spoke. "I'm with Hermione."

The brunette in question shot him a glare so venomous that he actually took a few steps back. Harry and Malfoy were yelling at each other again, both refusing to do anything even remotely intimate with the other.

"I'm with Malfoy, you two are together," Hermione announced. "Ron, no offense, but I'm not eating with you if I can avoid it. Besides, I'm the only one who can be in Malfoy's presence for more than a few minutes without hexes flying."

Malfoy took a step closer to his partner, smirking triumphantly at Harry and Ron. The two Aurors couldn't seem to look at each other, and it entertained Draco to no end.

A very tiny woman with a pixie-cut and a pink dress bounced over to them. "Are you four here for the romantic couple's tour?" she asked in a high-pitched voice, beaming at all of them.

Hermione felt Malfoy shift slightly behind her, shielding himself from the small, bouncy woman. _No one is that happy_, he'd said on more than one occasion when encountering people like this woman. _She's either completely insane or a psychopath hiding something._

Give him an army of murderous vampires and he'd face them gleefully, give him a petite, hyper woman, and he hid. Merlin forbid he get too near her pink outfit and matching personality. Coward. Some people were just happy. Hermione had told him this on numerous occasions, but he never believed her.

"Yes, we are," Hermione said when no one else was forthcoming with their words. She was working with children. None of them were happy with the couples arrangement, but there was nothing they could do about it now and they had work to do. The only thing their immaturity would accomplish is more delays.

The woman looked between Harry and Ron for a moment, completely silent. Suddenly, her face burst into a brilliant smile and she bounced a few times, clapping her hands. "Oh, you know your business is successful when the gays deem it worth a visit," she said excitedly. "You people are always so trendy."

Hermione covered her laughter with a poor imitation of a cough while Malfoy didn't even bother to try and hide his amusement. The woman wasn't very politically correct, but she was just so enthusiastic. Harry and Ron's expressions were priceless.

"I'm Kate and I'll be your tour guide for the day," she said. "If you'll just follow me, the others are already waiting."

They followed her quick little steps as she trotted off behind the kiosk to a shed-like structure. Inside, there were three couples sitting on a magic carpet. Hermione's attention was immediately riveted by what she assumed would be their mode of transportation for the evening. At the moment, the thing was just sitting harmlessly on the ground like a normal carpet, but once it was activated, it would soar just like a broom.

Only after she had thoroughly examined the carpet and dread was firmly lodged in her gut did she turn her attention to the other people who would be joining the on the tour. None of the six were under sixty, all of them sporting varying degrees of grey in their hair.

"I swear to Merlin, Potter, if this is also a senior's tour and you've missed that as well, I'm going to murder you. And not with a clean Avada Kedavra either, I'm using my sword," Malfoy growled quietly.

"Shut up, Malfoy," Harry hissed. "At least everyone isn't staring at _you_."

He was right. All of the older couples were staring at Harry and Ron while whispering amongst themselves. They seemed to be trying to figure out if the two were a couple or if they were just lost.

Their questions were answered when Harry and Ron reluctantly climbed into the magic carpet. The older couples immediately started murmuring. Luckily, the tour seemed to be comprised of open minded senior citizens. It would have been horrible to have a crotchety old woman spouting slurs all night.

Draco sat behind the two Aurors, making sure to leave plenty of space between him and the two Gryffindor idiots. He didn't want any of their stupidity rubbing off on him. Noticing Granger wasn't joining them, he glanced back at her. She was still lingering in the opening of the shed, wringing her hands nervously. His eyebrows migrated towards his nose as he tried to figure out what could possibly be bothering her. A glimpse of the loud pattern of their carpet was his hint; he'd forgotten that Granger, while usually near fearless, was completely terrified of anything involving heights.

Potter and Weaselbee were too busy bickering to notice that their friend was on the verge of a panic attack. While Draco was all for discord in the Golden Trio, he didn't see how their disagreement over the appropriate distance to leave between them without "feeling too gay" was more important than Granger's distress.

Sighing, Draco met her eyes and jerked his head, indicating she at least enter the building. Gryffindors were so much more trouble than they were worth.

Hesitantly, like a mouse approaching a hungry cat, Hermione edged into the room. Everyone else was too busy sneaking glances at Harry and Ron out of the corners of their eyes to notice her strange expression and odd behaviour.

"Granger," Malfoy whispered when she reached his side, "It's just a carpet right now, there's no way you can fall off when we're on the ground, so calm down and sit."

Knowing that Draco would tease her relentlessly for her hesitation and she would _still _end up sitting on the bloody carpet in the end, Hermione perched on the very edge of the colourful fabric. Her expression made it clear that she was afraid that the thing was going to launch itself out of the shed at any moment.

Malfoy rolled his eyes. Her completely unreasonable fear of heights had gotten them into trouble more than once. Those other situations, however, had involved a lot more danger than a guided tour on a perfectly safe magic carpet. He was starting to feel a little embarrassed for her patheticness, and Malfoys did not enjoy feeling embarrassed.

"Okay!" said Kate perkily with an enthusiastic hand clap. "Are we all ready to start the tour?"

As Kate sat in the driver's place on the front of the carpet Hermione tried to stand up again. Unfortunately, Malfoy's hand darted out and grabbed her wrist in an iron hold, his eyes, when she met them, were steely.

"You're not going to leave me here with these people," he hissed, "No matter how entertaining it would be to watch your moron friends try to pretend they're having a romantic evening, I refuse to handle them on my own."

Hermione reluctantly reclaimed her seat, not looking pleased in the least.

As the carpet started to lift smoothly from the ground, she squeaked and tried to get as far from the edge as possible. Coincidently, this had her pressed right up against Malfoy's side, her head buried in his shoulder.

Draco tensed all over and looked down at his trembling partner. There were few people he would allow such liberties – two really. Only Granger and his mother would get away with clutching at him like that, and even Granger wouldn't get away with it for long.

He wrapped an arm around her waist, hauled her across his lap, and plopped her down on his other side, towards the middle of the carpet. Had she not been so out of sorts, he doubted that Granger would have allowed him to manhandle her so. Once she was situated, he pushed her away slightly, leaving some space between the two of them.

"You're a professional, Granger," he scolded quietly, but not unkindly, "Act like it."

Hermione took a deep, steadying breath and looked down at the little patch of carpet by her knee. If she kept her eyes resolutely on the carpet, then she wouldn't notice that the same carpet was gradually gaining altitude. Had she been looking, Hermione would have seen a breathtaking scene of the entire city stretched out below them, the sun glittering off of rooftops and the waves of heat emanating from the dark surfaces giving the entire scene a dream-like quality.

The carpet turned slightly, making her panic and emit the tiniest whimper.

Draco glanced at her and sighed. She was so pathetic sometimes. Making sure that Potter and Weasley weren't looking, he grabbed her hand, refusing to look at her either. Comforting was awkward. Draco preferred not to do it. But when Granger squeezed his hand in thanks and her trembling calmed slightly, it was almost worth the discomfort on his part to know that he was helping her.

Twin lines of irritation formed between his brows as he realized how much of a poof he sounded. Malfoys did not act kindly towards women who were as annoying as Granger had a tendency to be, much less women of Granger's pedigree.

Draco wasn't a blood supremacist anymore, but he still only dated Purebloods. It would break his mother's heart if he married a Muggleborn. The women had her heart set on Pureblood grandchildren. His irritated expression only intensified as he realized he'd thought of Granger and marriage so closely together. The altitude must be doing strange things to his brain.

Angry with himself, he tried to tug his hand back, but Granger refused to release her death grip. Her eyes were large and pleading when he turned to glare at her accusingly. With a few grumbled complaints, he stopped trying to pull away from her.

* * *

"Dinner and dancing!" Kate exclaimed as she landed the carpet in front of a pavilion that seemed to be in the middle of nowhere. As far as the eye could see in any direction there was sand, sweeping dunes interspersed with the occasional flat space.

Hermione wobbled as she got off the carpet on unsteady legs. Her fingers were stiff from clutching Malfoy's hand so tightly for the whole trip. She caught him flexing his hand and felt a stab of guilt; he'd done something uncharacteristically kind for her and she'd injured him as thanks.

He caught her looking. "Don't flatter yourself, Granger. You're not strong enough to do me any lasting damage."

Under the pavilion, there were several tables scattered across the portable dance floor. The sun had set on their way over, so there were floating candles illuminating the entire area. It was like a little bubble of cheer and colour in the middle of a blank expanse of desert. Had they used some other form of travel to get there, Hermione would have thought it wonderful.

Hermione breathed easier once she was under the pavilion, the chill that had begun to set in over the desert held at bay by some impressive climate control spells. The tension that had been keeping her on edge since she'd seen the magic carpet began to bleed out of her as she sat at a table, Malfoy taking a seat opposite her.

The tables were spaced far enough apart that even the nearest diners wouldn't be able to hear anything they said.

"I think this is the weirdest assignment we've ever done," Malfoy said as a fleet of waiters appeared from nowhere with sparkling covered trays. His eyes wandered over to Harry and Ron's table, where they seemed to have recovered somewhat from their embarrassment and had started a conversation. "Things spiral out of control a lot when those two are around, don't they?"

Her answer was delayed as waiters placed platters in front of each of them, removing the covers with practiced flourishes. The food wasn't as fancy as the elaborate presentation would have led them to believe. It appeared to be some sort of chicken stew. Hermione picked up a spoon to try a bite, finding it surprisingly delicious. She waited until she had swallowed to answer.

"They have a roundabout way of doing things, but it gets them the bad guys in the end."

Used to long hours of silence, Hermione and Draco didn't speak much as they finished their dinner. They did have a few laughs watching Harry and Ron. The redhead practically inhaled all of his food, and the bread from the centre of the table. He started reaching for Harry's food and Harry had been forced to whack him with a spoon every time a freckled hand strayed too close to the steaming stew.

"What fresh hell is this?" Malfoy muttered when Kate stood up and proclaimed that she had an announcement in that irritatingly bubbly way of hers. Hermione was in agreement with him. She really didn't want to know.

"If everyone could stand," Kate said. She paused, waiting for everyone to obey.

As soon as the last guest was standing, all of the tables disappeared and the chairs gravitated to the edges of the dance floor. A musician-less string quartet started up in the corner, the instruments playing themselves magically.

"It's time for the dancing portion of our evening," Kate bubbled. Her demeanour changed into someone almost sombre and her eyes sparkled with unshed tears. "My late husband loved dancing so much. He believed that it aligns the soul in ways that even sex can't." She brightened again, visibly forcing herself to smile. "So all of you get out there!"

Malfoy groaned. "I'm beginning to understand why the Dark Lord was so set on extinguishing Potter. He has a habit of getting into the most annoying situations, dragging anyone too close with him. He's like a _black hole_."

Had she not been feeling such a sense of dread, Hermione would have scolded the blond for saying such things about her friend, even though she would have been secretly agreeing. As it was, she knew something was going to change. She and Malfoy kept a well-maintained distance and had done so ever since they'd come into contact again after Hogwarts. They never spoke of it, but both of them knew the distance was necessary.

Bad things would happen if they breached that distance. Hermione wasn't ready for whatever bad things were on the horizon, but she had a feeling that she was going to have to be because there was no stopping it.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

**A/N: Hello readers! Here's another chapter, hopefully to lighten the horribleness that is Monday.**

**As always, thanks to everyone who took the time to review and to irianaceleste for betaing!**

**Also! I stole the last line of this chapter from somewhere... The Simpsons? I'm not sure. It's not mine, but it just fit so nicely.**

**To yay: they're on the tour because they weren't sure where to find the sphinx and Kate's tour guaranteed that they would get to see a sphinx at the end.**

**~Frosty**

"Everyone grab their partner," Kate encouraged in that gratingly enthusiastic way of hers. Hermione was willing to bet that the woman had been one of those bouncy girls, always trying to get others involved in school spirit when she was younger. She certainly had the enthusiasm for a cheerleader.

All of the old couples immediately reached for their partners and started swaying across the hard wood of the floor. The remaining four shared a look, standing left out on the fringes of the dance floor.

"Uh, Kate?" Ron said hesitantly, "I think Harry and I are going to sit this one out."

Harry nodded enthusiastically.

"Us too," Malfoy added.

Immediately, Kate's perky demeanour darkened. Her bubbly smile turned forced and vaguely threatening. She really was a little bipolar with her moods. Hermione didn't want to see what she was like when she was really mad. "You paid for dancing. You really should dance."

Ron made a quiet sound of distress and looked around for some sort of escape but found none.

"Do it," Kate said with narrowed eyes.

Cowering slightly, Ron put his hands awkwardly on Harry's shoulders before starting to sway. Following his example, Harry put his hands on the redhead's shoulders, looking supremely uncomfortable. They stepped on each other's feet a few times before settling into something distantly resembling rhythm.

Hermione and Malfoy were a little slower with their dancing. They spent a moment silently laughing at Harry and Ron's discomfort, before Kate cleared her throat and got them back on track with a pointed look. Looking at each other uncomfortably, Hermione shifted her feet. It wasn't even that she thought the dance would be unpleasant; she just didn't want to cross the invisible line.

Draco wanted to shuffle in discomfort as well, but as a Malfoy, he was above such actions. Slowly, so as not to startle his skittish partner, he reached out and placed a hand on either side of her waist. Her large doe eyes turned to look at him in startlement and she froze in panic, gnawing on her lip.

"I'm not going to bite, Granger," he scoffed. There was a challenge hidden in his words.

Immediately, her hands were around his neck and her soft curves were pressed against him. He regretted pushing her.

"You're the one who hasn't moved," Hermione noticed her voice was lower than normal, almost _sultry_. Merlin, was she flirting with Malfoy? She'd known bad things would happen if she touched him, she just hadn't thought it would be immediately.

He did feel nice against her though, all firm muscles and comforting warmth. Next to him, she felt small and protected, like he wasn't going to let anything bad happen to her. She hadn't felt like that in a long time.

She shook her head, trying to get rid of the stupid, girl thoughts. She was Hermione Granger, not some airheaded teenager who was driven by her hormones.

As they continued to dance, their bodies got closer of their own volition. It was like they were two magnets, irresistibly pulled towards one another. No matter how much their brains might object to the idea of being together, the rest of them had no such qualms.

Hermione's head was resting against his chest, his hands warm against the small of her back and her fingers idly playing with the small wisps of hair at his neck. She could hear his steady heartbeat thumping; its song more entrancing than the delicate chords of music drifting on the desert air.

The spell was broken when Kate started that annoying clap of hers again. Hermione and Draco jolted apart. There was the briefest moment where they stared wide-eyed at each other, but reality quickly rushed in and ruined it. They were immediately in unspoken agreement that whatever strange thing had just occurred was going to be ignored.

"If everyone could make their way back to the carpet, we'll go see the sphinx now," Kate announced.

Hermione shuddered at the thought of getting on the bloody carpet again. She didn't like the carpet in the least.

* * *

The carpet wasn't equipped with the same climate-altering charms as the pavilion had been and Hermione was shivering in the cold air. The second trip had been a little easier than the first, mostly because Hermione was greatly preoccupied with the proximity of her partner. She and Draco hadn't said a single word in all the time they'd been sitting there in the dark beside each other, waiting for the bloody sphinx to show itself.

Whenever Hermione's shivers got particularly violent, Malfoy would glance at her out of the corner of his eyes, but he never commented. It wasn't like she expected him to offer her his jacket or anything, but that would have been nice. He was wearing that leather trench coat of his and it looked toasty warm.

"Does it usually take this long?" Ron asked, a hint of a whine around the edges of his words.

Kate frowned at Ron and then out at the blank expanse of desert. They were still on the carpet, hovering over a blank expanse of sand while they waited for the sphinx. "The sphinx is like clockwork, here every day," she said. "I don't understand what could have happened."

The normally happy women looked like she would dearly like to scold the sphinx thoroughly for disrupting her tour.

"I'm sorry ladies and gentlemen," Kate eventually said, looking positively despondent, "We're going to have to go back now. I will, of course, be refunding you the entirety of your ticket price, since the guaranteed sphinx is apparently absent."

Hermione was just relieved that she was going to be able to get off the bloody carpet in the very near future. Once her feet were firmly back on the ground, she could put some distance between herself and her partner and then everything would be well again.

For the rest of the ride back to the carpet storage shack, Kate periodically swept a sad look over her passengers, apologising with her eyes for the missing sphinx. In the end, no one had the heart to take their money back from the women. Draco tried, but Hermione stopped him with an elbow in the stomach.

* * *

After the usual objections from Harry and Ron about Hermione staying in Malfoy's suite, they all went back to their hotels. The moment that the elevator doors opened, Hermione rushed over to the sleeping lizard and examined it closely. There was something very strange about it, even when it slept. For such a small creature, it gave off a surprisingly threatening aura. As strange as it made her feel to be slightly intimidated by a tiny lizard, Hermione had learned to trust her instincts, especially when dealing with magical creatures. A gut reaction had saved her butt on more than one occasion.

Malfoy was hovering at her shoulder, looking with a mixture of curiosity and irritation at the small reptile. "Congratulations, Granger," he drawled, "You've caught a common lizard. The other million crawling around here are probably going to be sad to lose one of their own."

Without taking her eyes off of the lizard, Hermione swatted at her partner for being an idiot. He grunted as her hand collided with his stomach but didn't otherwise react. Occasionally Granger forgot herself and treated him as she would those twin morons that had latched themselves onto her in first year. He'd become used to it.

"Take the sleeping spell off of him," she ordered, her wand out and pointed at the lizard. She didn't want to take any chances when she had such a bad feeling.

Malfoy, not able to do anything she asked without first making it clear how displeased he was with her order, muttered irritably to himself as he pointed his wand at the lizard and undid his spell. The tenseness in his partner had sparked a similar tension in himself. He trusted her instincts just as much as she did.

Immediately, the lizard's glittering black eyes popped open and stared at Hermione with entirely too much intelligence. After a few moments of silent regard, the lizard opened its mouth and stuck out its tongue a few times, making some strange sounds. Hermione would have found it funny if she hadn't been so worried that the poor thing was choking on its tongue.

"I think you chose a broken lizard," Draco observed. As usual, he wasn't sharing in her concerns.

"You try talking after months of silence, old chap," the lizard snapped. Its voice was dry and crackly like a poor quality recording, but its words were loud and clear.

Draco's sword was levelled at the creature before Hermione could even recover from her shock. Her wand, having been levelled at the creature the entire time, didn't lower, but she refrained from overreacting like her partner – _one _of them had to keep a level head, and it certainly wasn't going to be Draco. In all fairness, the creature was very obviously abnormal. She'd seen many strange things in her time with the Ministry, but few of them had spoken with such an obviously fake vernacular. The lizard sounded like an American trying to pass as English – and failing miserably.

"Careful there, mate," the lizard said, his eyes on the blade poised to slice him in half, "I'm not doing you or your bird any harm."

"Put your sword away," Hermione snapped at her partner. The lizard could probably be off the table and under the sofa before Malfoy could swing that huge blade. It was made for beheading, not precise work. Besides, Draco would lose his security deposit if he went around slashing dents in the furniture. She tilted her head and regarded the creature. "What are you - if you don't mind me asking."

The lizard puffed out its little chest. "I am the great... Earl."

Hermione shot Draco another look since he was still holding his sword at the ready.

Reluctantly, Draco sheathed his sword. He could already tell that the lizard was going to be an immense annoyance and it was _so _tempting to just put an end to the thing before Granger got attached. She had a thing for annoying, hopelessly incompetent creatures, a trend indicated by her moronic friends.

"There's a good man," said the lizard. It turned his head to the side to look at Hermione, raking her with its eyes. Even though it was a different species, Hermione was pretty sure it was ogling her. It certainly seemed to spend an inappropriate amount of time examining her breasts. "Love, why don't you run along to the kitchen and make us men some sandwiches and a spot of tea."

It wasn't a question.

Hermione wanted more than anything to object and give the reptile a piece of her mind, but she found that she was compelled to do as she said. Her body moved to do his bidding even as her mind objected. Strangely enough, she found that after initial anger towards the lizard, she started to wonder why she was angry. She'd wanted to make sandwiches, right?

Surprised, Draco watched as Granger obediently disappeared around the corner, headed towards the little kitchenette the hotel room included. He was going to have to learn how to do that. It would be so convenient the next time she tried to argue with him, or stopped him from chopping something annoying in half.

Despite wanted to know how it was accomplished, he found that he didn't appreciate a magical creature having so much power over his partner. While he was knew that no harm would come to her should he have such a power over her, he wasn't sure that the lizard had such innocent intentions as using the power to escape nagging.

Draco was still frowning after Granger when the lizard spoke again. "Now that it's just us gents, be a mate and conjure me a monocle, would you?"

"Why the hell would I do that?"

"It's unseemly for a gentleman to be in the presence of a lady without his monocle."

One blink, then one more for good measure. Draco wasn't sure what to make for the odd, speaking lizard, but he knew after only moments in its company that squishing the thing would be immensely satisfying.

"You got rid of Granger so you could ask me to conjure a monocle?" Draco finally managed.

The lizard had the audacity to _sigh_. "Obviously."

Hermione came back in the room to find Malfoy looking a moment away from attempting to stab the lizard for the second time that day.

"Draco, stop that, he's our guest," she scolded.

Her strange tone immediately made Draco lower his sword and turn to stare at the brunette. She didn't even appear to notice what she'd done! Granger didn't just leave the room and make sandwiches, potentially missing some of the action. She was just sedately nibbling on a sandwich and watching him with those doe eyes of hers. Something was horribly wrong.

"You, woman," Earl said, "Conjure me a monocle, would you?"

Hermione wordlessly obeyed, disturbing Draco even more. The only way the situation could possibly be more disconcerting would be if Granger suddenly started obeying _his _orders as well. Worth a try – purely for scientific purposes, of course. "Granger, make me a better sandwich."

He covered his cheek where the stinging hex had hit while facing a positively corrosive glare. There went that theory then; at least that was right with the world. This, of course, meant that the lizard was the source of this strange change in the brunette instead of some spur of the moment change of personality.

As the lizard used his long tongue and one of its front legs to adjust the tiny monocle into just the right position on its scaly head, Draco grabbed his partner's arm and dragged her from the room. They ended up in Draco's bedroom, the door shut tight and thoroughly warded behind them.

"This is why you're supposed to take new specimens into the Ministry, not handle them yourself!" Draco practically yelled the moment the door was shut behind them. Usually it was him who was being scolded for irresponsible behaviour, so he wasn't sure on what decibel level was appropriate. He was just going with what felt right.

Hermione, shaken that she hadn't been in control of herself, paced over to the bed and perched there, clutching the comforter. It was soft and slightly cool from the air conditioning in the room, and focusing on something else helped her calm herself. She needed to calmly assess the situation and discover a solution, not hide under the covers in a locked room like she wanted to.

"I don't know why I did those things," she finally said. "Normally I would have hexed anyone who ordered me around like that. I _did _hex you for trying to order me around like that."

Remaining where he was, Draco watched her try and gather herself. He knew that, like any human, Granger had moments of weakness, but it always disturbed him when he witnessed them. Haltingly, expecting her to object, Draco slowly lowered himself to sit beside her on the bed. She didn't even seem to notice him, her eyes intent on her fingers, twined in the bedspread.

Draco slowly reached out and awkwardly patted her on the back, worried she was going to start crying. If there were going to be tears involved, he'd rather take his chances against the mind controlling lizard waiting for them on the other side of his door.

"I'm going to need to research this," she mumbled to herself.

Relief washed over Draco at her quiet words; Granger was going to research, everything was right in the world again. If she was wanting books, then she couldn't be all that shaken.

Both their heads whipped around to face the door as it clicked open as if there weren't numerous spells keeping it firmly shut. Nothing should have been able to open the door, especially a lizard. Not to mention the fact that their adversary was neither in possession of the height or the thumbs to manage the doorknob.

"Shagging already?" Earl said upon noticing them on the bed. "I usually have that effect on people."

Wand trained unwaveringly on the lizard, Hermione scrambled to the other side of the bed. She was afraid that her free will was going to mysteriously disappear again as soon as they small creature opened its mouth. Even as a little girl, Hermione had prided herself in her independence, and it rattled her to the core that the lizard had taken that away from her. Even worse was the knowledge that she had thought she'd _wanted _to do its bidding until Draco had dragged her away.

"Calm down, lass. I give you my word that I'll stop influencing you if you two take me back to Britain with you."

Knowing that they needed to be on their guard around the creature, neither Hermione nor Draco were quick to accept the deal. They didn't want to unleash something dangerous on their home, and the lizard had already proved himself to be plenty dangerous.

The lizard stomped one of his front feet, getting impatient with them. "Look, I can just as easily _order _you to bring me, yet here I am asking a favour. I have no interest in controlling anyone, I just need to hide somewhere far away from here."

"Why?" Hermione asked, eyes narrowed in completely warranted suspicion. She couldn't believe that she was actually considering going along with the lizard's request.

"There's a butterfly out to get me." His black eyes darted over to the window, as if even mentioning the butterfly would incur its wrath... or whatever.

"That makes _perfect _sense. I feel so much more inclined to trust you now," Draco drawled sarcastically.

The lizard's head whipped around to face the blond. "No one ever suspects the butterfly."


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

**A/N: Hello readers! This chapter contains one of my favourite scenes in the entire story. I hope you like it.**

**Thanks to everyone who reviewed! You guys are great. Also thanks to irianaceleste for betaing!**

**~Frosty**

"Hermione, is that lizard on your shoulder wearing a monocle?" Ron asked as soon as Hermione let her friends into the suite the next morning.

She rolled her eyes. After having to listen to Earl – as he insisted they call him – prattle on all night about how mankind was declining and how they had to make sure no butterflies could get to close to him, she was thoroughly tired of anything to do with the lizard. The long, boring night had managed to make her less wary of the creature. It's difficult to be both terrified and bored to tears at once, and after the first two hours of listening to Earl talk, both Hermione and Draco had settled firmly into the latter.

"This is Earl," Hermione said dryly. "He wears the monocle because he believes it will allow him to blend in when he comes to England with us."

Hermione suspected that Earl wasn't even his real name. Sometimes when she or Malfoy addressed him, there was a pause as he seemed to realize that it was him they were talking to. Earl refused to answer when she had questioned him on this, though the mischievous gleam in his eyes had implied that her suspicions were correct. Despite all of the time he'd spent talking, he remained resolutely mute as to his origins. He seemed content to remain a mystery, something that annoyed Hermione to no end. She didn't like mysteries.

"He fears butterflies," Malfoy added irritably.

Harry looked between the two of them – three if you counted the lizard. "Have you two hit your heads?"

"I assure you, they're perfectly sane," Earl said, making Harry and Ron both jump.

"That's even creepier than your last pet," Ron commented.

Hermione glared at him for being such an insensitive prick. Crookshanks had passed recently and she was still torn up about it. She bit the inside of her cheek to stop herself from welling up with tears. The loss of her beloved pet had been quite a blow; he had been her constant companion for the majority of her school career, sometimes her only confidant if Ron and Harry weren't talking to her – something that had happened on several occasions. She regained control of herself and then glared at the redhead for being so unsympathetic; just because _he _hadn't liked the half-Kneazle didn't mean that she hadn't loved Crookshanks dearly.

"Since the sphinx has already been abducted," Harry said, shooting a chastising look at Ron for upsetting their friend, "There's really no reason for us to stay here. Unless you two have any more business?"

"We've already informed the Egyptian Ministry about the strange manticore activity and about the missing sphinx. There's nothing we can really do here," Hermione said. As magical creature specialists, she and Draco were only allowed to deal with living creatures. Once a protected creature, like a sphinx went missing, it was work for the Aurors. The Egyptian Aurors were going to have to handle searching for any clues where the sphinx had disappeared.

Harry pulled a cloth-covered bundle out of his pocket. "If you two are all paid for this room, then we can portkey back right now."

A look passed between Hermione and Draco at the thought of taking Earl back home with them, but their hands were tied. They had put their heads together the previous night and, after brainstorming together for the longest time, they had been without a solution. Without more information, they had no idea how to block the strange mind control power that Earl seemed to have. They didn't even know if such a feat was possible.

Draco lifted a shoulder in a "_what can we do?" _gesture and gave her a subtle nod of encouragement. They were going to have to bring the lizard along with them. Sighing, Hermione put a hand on the portkey just as everyone else did. She could only hope that England was ready for Earl.

The familiar tugging in her stomach proceeded a slightly less than graceful landing in a field. Hermione went sprawling on the ground, a cloud of pollen and a few insects billowing around the small group. She was better than she used to be with Portkeys, but sometimes proper landings were just impossible. In Hermione's defense, when it was just her and Malfoy, they always managed to land on their feet, but the addition of Harry and Ron threw off her balance.

"Whoever is crushing me, get off," Hermione said feebly, having trouble getting the words out of her squished lungs. There was a scuffle as the person on top of her untangled themselves and complied with her request. When everyone was standing again, she realized that it was both Ron _and _Harry that had been on top of her. It was a wonder she had survived.

Hermione attempted to brush the dirt off of her clothes while quickly taking in her surroundings. They were in a rather beautiful meadow, with sprawling flowers and gentle slopes befitting a postcard landscape. It was a beautiful place, but not everyone in their party seemed to appreciate it.

"A _meadow_?" Earl screeched. "Why the bloody hell did you bring me to a meadow? They're practically butterfly _magnets_."

Hermione glanced down to see that Earl was clinging to the front of her bra, peeking his head out the top of her shirt where she had undone a few buttons to allow for the Egyptian heat. There was a brief moment of panic where she wanted to rip off her shirt and get the creepy little thing away from her, but this moment was immediately followed by the knowledge that she wasn't alone in the meadow and her companions probably wouldn't appreciate it if she started stripping – that or they'd appreciate it _too much_. Instead of stripping, Hermione slapped at Earl and made a distressed squeaking sound that she would later deny had ever escaped her lips. She was much to dignified to _squeak_.

"Get out of my shirt you perverted little reptile!" she yelled, doing a strange little hop dance in a desperate attempt to dislodge the lizard.

Harry watched her, disturbed; Malfoy with amusement, and Ron tried to help her. Unfortunately, Ron tried to help by reaching down her shirt to grab the elusive, squirmy reptile.

"RONALD!" Hermione jerked away from him, completely red from a combination of mortification and anger. She slapped at the redhead while he tried to free the hand that was caught down her shirt.

Unable to hold in his amusement, Draco started chuckling. While annoying and entirely too righteous a lot of the time, the Golden Trio was always good for a laugh. Anything that made the Weasel look like even more of an idiot was good entertainment in Draco's books.

Like a moron, Potter stepped in and tried to help, just not by sticking his arm down his friend's shirt. Instead, he _vanished _Hermione's shirt and tried to brush the small reptile off of Hermione's chest.

"HARRY!" Hermione screeched, reaching even greater decibels than she had with her previous yell. Had there been a glass anywhere in the vicinity, Draco was pretty sure it would have shattered from the power of her voice alone. She had quite the set of lungs.

When they got flustered, her friends were completely useless. It was lucky that Voldemort hadn't had breasts, or else Harry and Ron probably would have managed something really awkward in their attempts to fight him.

At this point, Draco was bent over, his hands resting on his knees to support himself as he laughed harder than he could remember ever laughing before. His position had the added advantage of distracting him from the surprisingly tempting curves of his partner. Draco had always appreciated the way she practically threw sparks when she was truly angered, and to have so much of her smooth skin on display while she berated her friends... Well, he had a feeling that the image was going to stick with him for quite some time.

"I knew I was having an effect on you!"

Draco looked down at his feet, where Earl was sitting, completely free from the chaos that was entirely his fault. The amused tilt to the lizard's head showed that he was getting just as much entertainment from the ridiculous scene as Draco. Granger, arms crossed over her surprisingly lacy bra, was kicking at her friends while she yelled at the both of them in a pitch that would make dogs howl. She looked genuinely distressed.

Suddenly not finding the scene quite so funny, Draco stepped over the lizard and went to break up the bickering of the Golden Trio. He grabbed Granger's bare shoulders, ignoring how soft her skin was, and pulled her away from the assault on her friends.

"Let go of me, Malfoy!" Hermione yelled. She had unconsciously allowed him to turn her away from Harry and Ron. She'd been so distracted by the feel of his hands on her bare skin that she'd momentarily forgotten that she was furious with Harry and Ron. What she hadn't forgotten was that she was half naked – she was more aware of _that _then ever with Draco's smoky eyes on her.

"As entertaining as this whole thing is," Draco said, conjuring her a shirt and draping it over her shoulders, "I want to get out of this bloody meadow before the barmy lizard decides to shelter somewhere else that will involve the removal of clothing." If he had to see the Weasel's freckled arse, he was going to throw up.

Hermione shot her partner a look that was half glare and half thankful smile. She appreciated the shirt, but not the way he'd gone about giving it to her. Did he have to have an attitude about _everything_? It got on her nerves sometimes.

"We have to be getting back to the Auror office," Harry said, wanting to get away from his angry female friend as quickly as possible. He was going to be feeling awkward around her for a while and wanted to escape before she found her wand and decided that he was deserving of a hex for vanishing her shirt. He'd only had the best intentions at the time but realized almost immediately that vanishing her shirt hadn't been the most helpful idea.

Without a proper goodbye, Harry Disapparated. Ron stared at the suddenly empty space Harry had occupied, shot a scared expression at the angry brunette, and then disappeared as well, his ears burning red as he cursed Harry for leaving him alone with Hermione when she was borderline homicidal.

Hermione took a few breaths to calm herself, trying to focus on the beautiful scenery instead of her embarrassment and anger. A butterfly fluttered by and landed on her shoulder. While the brunette smiled at the delicate wings of the beautiful creature, Earl stealthily climbed Draco's pants and slipped into his pocket.

Gently shooing the butterfly off of her shoulder, Hermione turned to Draco. "I'm going to go back to the Ministry and see what I can find out at the library. Would you report back to the office that we're back? I'll do the paperwork later."

Draco nodded. He'd do all the verbal check-ins needed if it got him out of doing the paperwork. Besides, he needed a few moments away from his partner to purge the image of that blasted lacy bra of hers. Who wore things like that when trekking across deserts? His traitorous mind started wondering if she was always wearing such provocative undergarments.

He had a feeling forgetting was going to be harder than he had thought.

* * *

Hermione was surrounded by books. Normally, that was one of her favourite places to be, but not at the moment. She was frustrated by the complete lack of information on strange, talking lizards. As far as the ministry records were concerned, nothing like Earl was known to exist. He was one of a kind – which was probably good for humanity in general, considering how much trouble just one of him caused.

"I can't find you in any of these books," Hermione sighed to the small green creature sitting on the table near her. She was completely stumped and hoping for a hint. Unfortunately, Earl insisted on remaining tight-lipped about his origins... or anything about himself really. Hermione was getting really frustrated with him.

Not that long ago, Malfoy had stormed in, _thrown _Earl in her general direction, and stormed out again, muttering about "bloody annoying reptiles." At the time, Hermione had been trying to stifle her laughter, but she was starting to understand how Malfoy must have felt. Earl was annoying, even when he wasn't trying.

The lizard glanced at the titles of the books that surrounded the both of them in stacks. "I assure you, I'm quite well known. You're just looking at the wrong books."

"Can't you give me a hint or something?" Hermione asked in frustration. She had virtually nothing to go on besides annoying, mind-controlling lizard. Even for her researching skills, that wasn't much information.

Earl sighed dramatically. "I've already given you so many hints. Any more and I'd practically be spoon feeding you the information."

For once, Hermione didn't see anything wrong with information being spoon fed to her. Normally, she would have considered it cheating, the information gleaned from handouts nearly worthless because she hadn't earned it herself. This time she was beginning to feel desperate.

While staring at the lizard, deep in thought as she searched her mind for clues, something occurred to her. "When we were waiting in the alley outside the vampire nest, I thought I saw a lizard, but dismissed the thought because it was too cold. That was you, wasn't it?"

"I will neither confirm nor deny if I was on the wall watching."

Hermione smirked triumphantly, glad to _finally _have even the tiniest bit more information. "I never said that you were on the wall."

Since Earl didn't appear all that concerned for giving himself away, she could only assume that he was just enjoying watching her flounder for information. Sadistic little reptile.

Malfoy interrupted her glaring when he stuck his head in the library, nodded to her, and left again. He was a little worried about leaving her alone with a creature that had already demonstrated its ability and willingness to control her mind, but]Earl had given his word not to do it anymore and hadn't since they'd brought him back to England. However, one could never be too careful when dealing with crafty magical creatures. They usually didn't have the same moral codes as humans, so accepting their word as security was, at best, a gamble.

Hermione smiled after Draco, thankful that he wanted to make sure she was okay. It didn't really matter that he was probably just doing his job and taking care of his partner, Hermione was thankful for the backup.

"Do I sense some love in the air?" Earl asked. If he'd actually had lips, Hermione was sure he would be smirking.

"No," Hermione snapped immediately. She wasn't even going to contemplate feelings stronger than a vague, professional affection for her partner. If she did, she knew that a blush would betray her as soon as she was in the blond's presence, and that couldn't happen. Ruthlessly observant, Draco would notice the blush and probably laugh at her for it.

"There's potential between you two. Trust me, I'm an expert."

Frustrated and embarrassed, Hermione glared at the green bane of her existence. "And what do you know about love? I don't see any lady lizards around here."

"I'm not a lizard," Earl said with dignity. "I told you, I'm only hiding."

"From butterflies," Hermione muttered, completely lost. Still, he'd given her a rather large hint. He was a shape changer of some sort, which meant that there were only a few known things he could be.

He nodded his tiny head, giving a shudder as he thought of butterflies.

* * *

Hermione had exhausted every possible research avenue on shape-changing lizards that she could fathom and was resting her head on the desk sleepily when Draco came into the room.

"Are you ready to go home, Granger?"

She blinked at him in confusion. "You don't usually wait for me to leave before going. You don't even say goodbye half the time." The implied question was clear in her statements; why was he talking as if he'd waited for her?

"And you don't usually have a fake British, misogynistic, mind controlling lizard following you around," he said, sitting beside her.

"So – what, you're not going to leave me alone until Earl does?"

Draco didn't say anything, but his expression made it clear that he wasn't going to let her talk him out of it.

Unsure whether to be flattered that he cared enough to give up his spare time to make sure she didn't get hurt or irritated that he didn't think she could take care of herself, Hermione let the issue drop for the moment, instead turning her attention to the lizard who was studying the pair with interest. "Are you planning on being with us much longer?" she asked, "Because I'm not sure how long Malfoy's going to be able to last living with me."

The blond snorted but didn't comment. His mother had been driving him up the wall lately and he was kind of thankful for the excuse for a prolonged absence. In fact, he wasn't even planning on letting her know that he was back from his little sojourn around the world yet. Not to mention Narcissa had said something about a distant cousin visiting for tea, and Draco definitely didn't want to sit down and make small talk with someone he had met maybe once and would probably hate instantly.

"Let's go then," Hermione sighed. She'd been on the verge of sleep anyway, so it was probably best for everyone that she got as much rest as possible. Somehow, she thought she was going to need to be well-rested so she could have as much patience as possible in the morning. "But I refuse to treat either of you like guests. You're more like... forced roommates taken under duress."

Tired of her sleep-deprived theatrics, Draco grabbed her upper arm and hauled her into a standing position. "That's fine then, let's go," he muttered as he dragged her from the room, Earl scurrying to catch them.


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

**A/N: Hello readers! I have to stop putting off posting these chapters until after two in the morning. I'm always too tired to actually put something interesting in my author's note.**

**Anyway... thanks to everyone who reviewed! I had fun reading everyone's guesses about Earl's identity. Also thanks to irianaceleste for betaing!**

**~Frosty**

Draco scowled at the steam swirling in the air and roughly shoved his sopping bangs away from his eyes with the hand that was holding his lit wand. "Why didn't you warn me that we were going to be wading through what I'm starting to think is _literally _hell when you woke me up this morning?"

They were slogging their way through a hot spring looking for giant, fire-breathing salamanders. Each of them had their wands lit to stave off the complete blackness. In their other hands were very large nets to catch the salamanders.

The hot water twining around their thighs would almost be pleasant if they weren't in a cave that trapped all of the steam, making the air almost unbreathably humid and hot. Thick green moss seemed to be the only thing that was really flourishing in the unwelcoming environment; it coated the walls in a slippery, moist blanket that was unpleasant to touch. There appeared to be no other life present, but Hermione insisted there were magical creatures living in the cave.

"Because you would have complained before we even got there and I didn't think I'd be able to listen to your whining _all _day," Hermione said without moving her eyes from their work of examining the cloudy water lapping at her legs. "Besides, you would have known if you had bothered to read the file I gave you."

Like her partner's, her hair was heavy with moisture, a combination of sweat and steam. The mass was sticking to her red, blotchy skin in unattractive slashes of brown across her hot face. Her mood wasn't much better than Draco's.

"You know my feelings on files."

That she did. Hermione chose not to comment as she caught a movement that didn't seem to be caused by the very sluggish current of the spring. Since the water was opaque, she could only skim her net through the area and hope she caught something. While the nets weren't big enough to catch the entire salamander, they would allow Hermione or Draco to lift the creature's head above the water so that the spell could be cast. A frown edged onto her lips when the net came up empty. The oppressive heat of the cave was starting to get to her and her partner's whining was grating on her frayed nerves. Hermione was a little desperate to get back to somewhere that she could actually breathe.

"Why is it that you two travel all over the world when you work for the _British _Ministry?" Earl asked. The reptile didn't seem to be affected by the heat and humidity in the least. If anything, he was languishing in the hot, humid atmosphere. His ease in the uncomfortable climate just made him that much more unbearable.

Hermione pushed away his tail from where he dangled it over her face to get her attention. The reptile had perched himself on her head as soon as he'd seen that they were going to be in water. His reasoning had been that, out of the two Ministry workers, Hermione seemed less likely to slip on the gravelly floor.

"None of your business," Draco said flatly.

Hermione, fed up with their bickering, glared towards the irritable blond. "Just because you woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning doesn't mean that you can take it out on everyone around you."

"First off, I didn't wake up on a _bed_; I woke up on your lumpy couch with _that_-" he gestured towards Earl "-sleeping on my nose. The thing's a bloody nuisance!"

"In my defense, I was cold," Earl said. "I'm a reptile; we don't like to be cold."

"Not helping," Hermione hissed. Malfoy had his sword strapped to his side, and she was a little worried that he'd snap and try to slice Earl in half. Of course, the lizard would dart away and she'd end up with a sword embedded in her skull. Even magic wouldn't be able to save her from that, and while she knew Draco would feel horrible about it later, it wouldn't matter because she would be dead.

"We travel because the British Ministry is actually the _only _one in the world with a team like Malfoy and I," she explained, hoping that Earl's curiosity would be satisfied and he would just stop talking. She glanced out of the corner of her eye to see that Malfoy was unconsciously looming behind her, trying to intimidate the lizard resting on her head into silence. She needed to get away from him before she really was in danger of that sword in her brain. "Maybe we should each do one side of the cave; it'll make this whole thing quicker."

A grunt was the extent of his agreement, but Draco complied. Though the cave wasn't large, it was big enough to get her out of striking range, which had been her intention with the suggestion that they work separately.

Hermione had moved a few steps further into the cave and was once again staring intently at a ripple in the water. She didn't even notice the danger lurking nearby. Someone did though.

"Granger, stay perfectly still."

Some instinct that always reacted when he used that tone had her obeying him without question. It was his "do as I say or you'll most likely die" voice and it almost never failed to get an instant reaction. This was a good thing, as taking the time to process what he ordered would have left her dead.

From the other side of the cave, Draco charged at her, his sword clanging loudly as it struck the rock just beside her head. It was a good thing there were spells in place to protect the sword from dulling. Draco would have found a way to blame her if he wrecked his sword in the process of protecting her. Chivalry wasn't exactly his strong suit.

Hermione turned her head slightly, paling when she saw the large, spindly body and cloudy, sightless eyes of something that she couldn't identify. Whatever it was, it looked deadly and had probably only been moments away from killing her with those nasty looking sharp claws that, even in death, appeared poised to grab her neck.

"Still think me sword is ridiculous?" he asked, still much too close for her comfort.

It took effort, but she pushed aside the weird squirming feeling in her stomach and looked him right in the eye. From such a close distance, she could see the darker streaks of grey shot through the silver of his irises.

"I think you just killed a species that has yet to be discovered." Chances were that if she hadn't even seen anything remotely similar before, then it had yet to be discovered. Hermione wasn't full of herself; she read a lot of books on magical creatures, including papers written by researchers on newly discovered species. If she'd never read about it before, it really was unlikely that the species had been discovered.

"You're welcome." Draco jerked a little closer as he dislodged the sword from the dead creature before stepping away from her and giving her space.

Hermione used her wand to put the body under a stasis spell and banished the creature back to her office. She'd look at it later. She was hoping that she was wrong and the creature wasn't rare at all. If it was the only one discovered, or worse, an endangered species, then Draco might have to pay a fine for killing one.

Hermione was kind of disappointed that Draco had gone right for the sword and killed the thing despite knowing that had Malfoy used a stunning spell, they ran the risk of the creature being magic resistant and killing _her_.

"It was you or that thing, so stop making that face," Draco growled. He'd seen her disappointed face as she'd vanished the creature and knew exactly what she was thinking. The woman needed to sort out her priorities. She was alive and should be thankful for it, not disappointed about the bloody killing machine.

Hermione tried to smooth her features into something less disappointed, but she probably failed. The effort must have been enough though, since Draco didn't mention it again.

Something large brushed against Draco's leg, causing him to freeze and stare down at the water. "It's always _murky _water," he muttered, throwing aside his net and shoving his wand into his belt. His face was screwed up in a grimace as he reached in and grabbed whatever was down there. "Is it too much to ask to see what I'm trying to catch, just this once?"

If something bit him again, he was going to Avada it and ask questions later, screw the paperwork it would cause for his partner.

Wand drawn, Hermione was watching intently in case she needed to intervene between her partner and something that wanted to eat him. It wouldn't be the first time she'd had to stop some pissed off magical creature from eating Draco; he had that effect on... most things actually. He was good at getting under people's –and other questionable but sentient creatures' - skin.

With a quiet grunt, Draco hauled up a salamander that matched the description in Hermione's file. Close to a metre and a half long, the salamander was a shiny black on top with a vibrantly red underbelly. The eyes on its large head were clouded with blindness from having lived in the darkness for generations. It was _not _pleased that it had been removed from the water. Thrashing violently, the salamander managed to make Draco slip on the slimy rock bottom and they both went under the water with a huge splash. For something that usually just drifted along, it certainly had quite a bit of power packed into its slick body.

Hermione knew she should be concerned as a fierce wrestling match ensued between her partner and the fire-breathing salamander, but the only thing she could think about was that Malfoy was going to be in _such _a foul mood when they got out of the cave. He hadn't exactly been a bundle of sunshine all morning, and that had been before he got all wet fighting a slippery amphibian. She was on the verge of stunning both Malfoy _and _the salamander when Malfoy managed to gain the upper hand and pin the thing against a mossy wall.

"Granger, tag this thing already so I can get out of here," he snapped when she failed to immediately cast the spell.

A quick wave of her wand and the giant salamander was magically tagged with an almost undetectable tracking spell. It was something of her own design that would duplicate and then attach itself to every member of the same species to which the original salamander had contact. The spell should quickly spread to the entire population in the area.

"Okay, we can get out of here," she said.

Her shirt got a little wet from the splash that the salamander made when Malfoy threw it into the water, but she thought it wise not to comment. Had Malfoy not already been dripping wet and furious she may have given him hell for doing that on purpose – as she was pretty sure he had. Just this once though, she was going to be the bigger person and let him get away with being an arse. Come to think of it, she was almost constantly letting him get away with being an arse.

* * *

"Did you tag the salamander?" Harry asked when Hermione and Draco Portkeyed back into the office.

Immediately upon seeing that Potter and Weasley were there, Draco stormed out of the room, dripping a trail of water behind him. Since they'd returned directly from the cave, there had been no point in casting drying spells, so both he and Hermione – more so _him_– were wet. There was nothing in the world that would make him endure so many Gryffindors after such an unpleasant day.

No one chose to comment on Malfoy's abrupt departure. Hermione knew that he was going down to a training room so that he could take his anger out on a punching bag, or possibly some of the new and unsuspecting Auror recruits, and Ron and Harry just didn't care where he was as long as he was gone.

"We got one," she confirmed. As she nodded, Earl lost his footing slightly and had to clutch her curls to keep his balance, drawing the attention of the two Aurors to himself. Harry and Ron both shot disturbed looks at the lizard.

"You associate with the most unpleasant... beings," Ron said with distaste. Harry nodded his agreement.

Choosing not to take offence – because it was kind of true – Hermione dried herself with a quick swish of her wand and took a seat at her desk so that she could start on her paperwork.

"I couldn't agree more," Earl said. He was looking at Ron with the same expression the redhead directed at him.

"How are we sure that the poachers are going to go after the fire-breathing salamanders?" Earl asked. He crawled off of Hermione's head, down her arm, and perched on the paperwork she was trying to complete, looking up at her expectantly.

"We've been through this, Earl." Her sigh fluttered the papers around his small body and nearly made him stumble in an effort to keep himself upright. "Salamanders, the Sphinx, and Centaurs were on the schedule for the next creature fights according to Harry and Ron's interrogation of their captive. We're tagging the salamanders and then the centaurs just in case they get captured. This is only supposed to be a last resort anyway, we're going to try and infiltrate the poaching organization first."

She passed her forms over to Harry, needing an Auror to sign off on her latest expedition since it was partially Auror business. Every time she and Draco left the Ministry, there were a pile of forms that needed to be completed, sometimes in triplicate, for both her and her partner. Working with the Aurors just made it worse, she had to do additional paperwork on top of everything else. It never ended.

"Hermione, I've been wondering," Ron said slowly. "What's that dead thing in the corner?"

Having forgotten about the creature that had nearly killed her in the cave, Hermione whipped around to stare in the direction her friend was staring. She quickly finished the most immediate paperwork before rushing off to get some books so she could start her research while she waited for Malfoy to return. They still had to pay a visit to the centaurs and she didn't fancy having to spend the whole time making sure Malfoy didn't say something that would get him killed. Better to let him have some time to blow off some steam in a – relatively – productive way.

* * *

"Stop looking at me," Draco snapped. He could just _feel _Granger's eyes boring into the back of his head as they hiked through the Forbidden Forest.

It had rained recently, and the loamy floor of the forest was soggy. In the few places that weren't covered in leaves, there were slippery patches of mud. As fresh and vibrant as the birdsong filled forest was, it failed to improve the blond's mood. He knew that the cheery atmosphere was just to lull him into a false sense of security so that the next mud patch he stepped in would be a complete surprise. He was _not _going to end up on his arse and soaking wet for a second time in one day.

"If you'd just let me heal-"

"No," he snapped.

Hermione huffed irritably and went back to focusing on where she put her feet.

"I think it gives him a dangerous look," Earl said cheerfully.

"The sword does that," Hermione objected. "And the threatening glare," she added when Malfoy shot one in her direction.

"Would you two stop talking about it?" Voice so sharp it could cut rock, Malfoy scowled at Hermione and her passenger, his face like a thundercloud. He had come back from his bout in the exercise room with a black eye and his mood worse than ever. Try as they might, Hermione and Earl couldn't get an explanation out of them and they were driving him insane with their attempts.

His reticence wasn't because he wanted to be mysterious or anything, it was because of embarrassment. When he'd been in the process of exiting the training room after thoroughly defeating all the Auror trainees in hand-to-hand combat, an overenthusiastic latecomer to the class burst into the room and bashed him with the door. She was a tiny little redheaded thing who didn't look like she could hurt a fly, much less take down a dangerous criminal. Draco hadn't been able to figure out why in the world she would ever think she would make a good Auror, or even why the _Aurors _would think she should be hired. The whole incident was just something that he wanted to forget. This would be much easier to do if his partner and her obnoxious passenger would just _stop asking him about it_!

"It would really only take me a second to heal it," Hermione said after a few moments of silence only broken by the birdsong and drops was residual water dripping down from the leaves.

"Granger, you know I don't like to be fussed over!" Draco stopped short as he noticed the bow levelled at his face. They were completely surrounded by bow-wielding centaurs. In retrospect, tramping through the forest and yelling at each other instead of watching out for things that wanted to kill them wasn't the most intelligent thing that could have done.

"I found the centaurs!" Earl declared as Hermione tried to shush him. Knowing Earl's personality, he'd end up getting them all shot.


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

**A/N: Hello readers! I have a nasty headache, so I'll keep this short. Thanks to everyone who reviewed and thanks to irianaceleste for betaing!**

**~Frosty**

"State your business," the largest of the centaurs ordered. His coat and hair were chestnut, and his skin was only a shade lighter, the perfect colour to move through the forest undetected. He was the one with his arrow trained steadily between Draco's eyebrows.

Hermione was unnerved by so many arrows ready to shoot and kill her, but she was more concerned about her partner. Knowing Malfoy's charm – while abundant when he wanted it to be – was conspicuously absent at the moment, Hermione took it upon herself to be the voice of their little group.

"We're here from the Ministry with a warning," she addressed the centaur who had spoken, trying to ignore the way every centaur surrounding them had bristled at the mention of the Ministry. "We believe that there's someone out hunting centaurs and are trying to put a stop to it."

The arrow lowered slightly as the creature considered Hermione. He didn't look particularly thrilled to see her – his expression was actually closer to what she'd expect from someone who had just stepped in something both sticky and smelly – but he didn't appear murderous.

"This is a serious claim," the same centaur stated. "But your interference is unnecessary. The stars have forewarned us of this hunter."

Having dealt with centaurs before, Hermione wasn't surprised that they had known she was coming. She didn't put much stock in Divination herself, but she could respect the fact that centaurs seemed to have a knack for knowing things that they shouldn't.

"Do the stars also say that you manage to defeat this hunter on your own?"

For the briefest moment, the centaur faltered, and Hermione knew that she had him. "We are not to interfere in what is to come."

"You always say that when you know you should," Draco snapped. He grunted when Hermione elbowed him in the ribs.

"I'm sorry for my partner's rudeness; he's not fit for polite company."

The lead centaur acted as if Hermione hadn't apologised. He seemed to have taken Draco's words to heart. "Our leader needs to hear about this," he decided. "You will venture no further into centaur territory." It wasn't a request. Two of the centaurs raised their bows to once again train arrows on the humans to prevent them from following as the rest whipped around and dashed off to disappear into the forest.

"You will stay here until they return," one of the remaining two centaurs ordered. Neither Hermione nor Draco failed to notice that their hands never ventured far from their bows. The centaurs were ready to shoot them at the first sudden movement or deep breath.

Concerned, Hermione looked at the elongating shadows of the trees. It was steadily getting darker and she had a feeling that the other centaurs weren't going to be back until morning. She had a tent that had been shrunken down stashed in her pocket.

Standard issue Ministry tents consisted of one separate area with two cots and a central area with a kitchenette, two chairs, and a small table. Draco, being a Malfoy, had taken one look at the tent and gone out to buy himself something "more fitting of a Malfoy". This, of course, meant that he'd gotten the best on the market, complete with two bedrooms, a full kitchen with dining table, as well as a decent sized sitting room. In this case, Hermione was actually glad that Malfoy was such a snob, since she got a king sized bed instead of a creaky cot.

Upon his purchase of the tent, Hermione had added several of her own spells. The tent was essentially a canvas fortress of protection and shielding spells. Once the canvas flaps were secured, it was very nearly impossible for anything else to enter.

"It's going to be dark soon, would it be all right if we retire to our tent for the night – or at least until your leader arrives?"

The centaurs shared a look over Hermione's head, but they shrugged. "As long as you don't venture any further into centaur territory and are here when our leader arrives, there is no problem with that."

She nodded her thanks. It had been a long day and she was grateful for the chance to rest. Slowly, just in case the centaurs misconstrued a sudden movement as an attack, Hermione pulled the tent from her pocket, set it on the ground and used her wand to bring it back to normal size. Draco covered her back as she went inside and then shut the flap securely behind him so that the protective spells were activated.

"That was fun," Earl announced. Hermione couldn't tell if he was being sarcastic or if he had genuinely enjoyed having narrowly missed being turned into a pincushion for centaur arrows. She was willing to bet that it was the latter. Earl had a strange sense of amusement.

"That was entirely your fault," Malfoy snapped, making Hermione glad that the tent was soundproofed enough that the centaurs wouldn't be able to hear them yelling at each other no matter how loud they got. She had a feeling that they were going to need that soundproofing. "If you two hadn't been bloody harassing me about something of no importance, then the centaurs wouldn't have even known that we were in the forest to ambush us."

Wait, _we_? Hermione was perfectly willing to stand aside while Earl was blamed since the lizard was so annoying, but she refused to allow some of that blame to be shifted onto her shoulders. She bristled in irritation, the need for a good fight roiling in her stomach. Yes, the soundproofing spells were going to be put to the test in the very near future.

"I wasn't harassing you! I was trying to _help_," she yelled. The desire to storm up to him and poke him in the chest was strong, but she refrained. "They ambushed us because you're so touchy that people have to watch _every single _thing they say just so that you won't take offense and make a scene. This time your anger problem nearly got us _killed_."

For a brief moment, Malfoy's face was a mask of shock, but then he recovered with a fierce glare. "I wasn't aware that you had such a problem with my personality. Though you're not really one to point fingers about personality flaws, you've singlehandedly managed to alienate nearly everyone in the department with your annoying lectures and obsessive forms."

"I only ever fill out the required forms! You're just angry about it because you know that you would have lost your job long ago if I hadn't been doing your paperwork for you." Hermione would never admit it, but his comment had hit a nerve. She'd always been a little sensitive that her studious habits and occasionally bossy personality seemed to mean that she annoyed most people and had trouble making close friends. Malfoy knew this and was exploiting it.

"And you would have lost your life if it hadn't been for my intervention just the other day."

She opened her mouth to say something that she would no doubt come to regret, but she found that no words would pass her lips no matter what she tried to say.

"That's enough!" Earl said, a weird echoing quality to his voice making it resonate through the whole tent. "You're both saying hurtful things that you don't mean, now go to your rooms and sleep before you cause irreparable damage to your relationship."

There was some kind of compulsion in his words, forcing Hermione to retreat to her room even though she wanted to stay and have it out with Malfoy. She'd saved his life too! Probably on just as many occasions as he'd done so for her. Partner or not, he didn't get to say such hurtful things to her just because she'd mentioned the thing that most people tiptoed around: his anger problems.

Malfoy looked equally reluctant to leave their verbal duel, but just as Hermione was unable to resist the pull of Earl's words, Malfoy couldn't find the strength of will to resist either. Stiff limbed and dragging their feet slightly, they marched off to their respective rooms.

Once Hermione was in her room, the compulsion released her. When she tried to exit however, she found that the tent flap separating her from the rest of the living area would not budge. Not only had a tiny talking lizard sent her to her room, but she was trapped there until that same crazy lizard decided that she should be able to leave. Hermione knew it had been foolish to trust the reptile to keep his word.

* * *

Hours later, the sun was long gone, even the last lingering traces of twilight having disappeared below the horizon. Between the trees of the forest, the darkness was complete and impenetrable. Only the sound of deep breathing emanated from both bedrooms. After so long left with nothing to entertain him, Earl was _very _bored - so bored in fact that he was _desperate _for entertainment. It was lucky that he had two perfectly good sources of entertainment within reach, and so susceptible to suggestion when they were slumbering.

He slithered into Draco's room first, the protective wards on the tent flap not slowing him in the least. Just as Earl had suspected, the blond was sleeping soundly. Earl tilted his head to the side and observed him for a moment. So peaceful, but something was missing. Earl knew _exactly _what it was.

For a creature so small, the bed was dauntingly large, but Earl had been a lizard for a while and he was skilled with his tiny claws. He darted up a dangling sheet and came to rest of the softness of the pillow, just beside the sleeping figure's ear.

Obediently, Draco rose from the bed, still deeply asleep, and left his room. Earl guided him from his shoulder while Draco navigated through the tent with his eyes closed.

They reached Hermione's room without incident, and Earl climbed down Draco to pass effortlessly through the spells protecting her room and then open it for the waiting figure outside it.

Draco climbed into her bed and shifted slightly to get comfortable.

"Something's missing," Earl murmured. He regarded the scene with a critical eye, trying to discern what exactly it was that didn't look right.

When he realized what it was, he wanted to laugh at himself for not noticing sooner. Tilting his head to the side and focusing, Earl waved a foot towards the pair on the bed and both of their clothes disappeared.

"Much better." Earl was practically vibrating with satisfaction. In the time spent avoiding his wife, he hadn't done near enough matchmaking and he'd missed it.

Suddenly chilled without clothes, Hermione and Draco both wormed their way deeper under the covers, searching for warmth. Accidentally, Draco's hand landed on his partner's warm back, and he pulled her close, settling once again into his deep sleep. Happy little sighs from both humans followed Earl out of the room.

Not much later, there was a sight shuffling sound and then an ear-piercing screech.

"Yep," the lizard said smugly, popping the p, "I've still got it."

* * *

Hermione woke up from what had been a pleasant dream. When she tried to roll over, she found that something was restraining her. Further investigation revealed that it was an arm – a horribly _familiar _arm.

"Malfoy, what the hell?" she screeched.

The blond startled awake, saw the furious Hermione, and scrabbled backwards until he fell right out of bed, at which point Hermione discovered that he was naked. Her eyes widened to the size of saucers and her cheeks rapidly reddened as she looked at him. Of their own accord, her eyes travelled down... down – and then snapped back up to meet his gaze when she realized what she was doing.

Luckily – or not so much, depending on the viewpoint – Malfoy hadn't noticed her little moment of weakness and blatant ogling because he was busy doing some of his own. Hermione followed his sightline to find that her sheet had slipped when she sat up, revealing her completely bare breasts. Judging by the stormy lust in Malfoy's eyes, he approved.

Hermione made an indignant squawk and pulled the sheets back up to preserve what little modesty that she still retained.

"You have three seconds to explain to me what the hell you were doing naked in my bed before I remove certain necessary parts," she said, aiming the wand she had just found on her nightstand at her partner. Conveniently, said parts weren't covered, so she had a clear shot if his explanation wasn't satisfactory.

"How the fuck should I know what happened?" he demanded, not seeming all that concerned that he was naked. Hermione chucked a pillow at him so he could cover himself. She wasn't sure if she could focus on a conversation when she was trying so hard to avoid looking anywhere she shouldn't.

Her eyes narrowed. "You're telling me that you have no idea how the both of us somehow lost our clothes and ended up in the same bed?"

"What are you implying, Granger? How am I supposed to know that this isn't all your doing as some desperate attempt to shag me?"

His tirade would have continued, but she held up a hand to stop him. "Wait a second. Who do we know who has a strange ability to do magic that he shouldn't and a penchant for being incredibly annoying?"

As soon as she saw the dawning realization in Malfoy's eyes, she yelled for the interfering lizard.

"Yes?" Earl asked with entirely too much innocence as he scurried into the room. His dash paused when he caught sight of their compromising positions, but Hermione could tell that it was contrived surprise he expressed. He recovered from the fake surprise remarkably quickly. If a lizard could smirk, Earl was doing it. "Am I interrupting something?"

"Just the little scene that you orchestrated," Draco snarled. "Now return our clothes before we have to get nasty."

Hermione nodded along with her wand trained on the lizard. They may be on the outs, but she still trusted Malfoy with her life and was willing to go along with whatever he had planned for the lizard who had completely violated their privacy.

With what Hermione assumed was a lizard pout, Earl returned their clothes. His ease with magic worried her; there was something bigger than the obvious going on with the lizard and she wanted to get to the bottom of it. "You two are no fun. I provide you with the perfect opportunity for romance and you only violate each other with your eyes for a while." He glanced slyly at Draco. "Well, this one got a little bit of groping in, but you were both asleep, so I didn't count it."

Heat flooded Hermione's cheeks with renewed vengeance and even Malfoy's usually pale face was showing hints of pink along his cheekbones. She grabbed her pillow and threw it at her partner for the sleep groping thing, but she wasn't going to hold a grudge; he'd been asleep.

"That's not the point," Hermione said, knowing that no one would believe her if she tried to deny the allegation of visually groping Draco. "You stripped us naked and stuck us in bed together, that's so _wrong_!"

"It depends on your interpretation of the situation. It could have been _very _right if you'd given it a chance." There was no question about what the lizard was implying and Hermione didn't appreciate the images that popped into her head. She could only pray that the images were her own making and not something that Earl had somehow planted – the idea that Earl could plant such subtle suggestions in her mind that she wasn't even sure if they were her own was so disturbing that she'd take naughty fantasies of her partner any day over _that_.

"That's enough," Draco snapped. "It's one thing to screw around with us on our own time, but we're working here and lives could depend on our task."

Surprisingly, Earl actually looked slightly chastised, hanging his head. "You're right, it was inappropriate of me." His demeanour completely changed and his head whipped back up, eyes sparking with mischief. "But as soon as you're finished with this whole saving magical creatures thing, anything goes."

Hermione was wary of that bargain, but she knew it was probably the best she was going to get. She would just have to accept it for the time being and then deal with the consequences once she didn't have so many other things occupying her mind.

"Humans, our leader is here to speak with you," a centaur called, its booming voice carrying through the fabric of the tent. Hermione had thought it a bad idea to muffle the sound from outside of the tent since they wouldn't be able to hear danger coming for them. So the silencing spells only worked one way, blocking any sound that would have come out of the tent, but none of the sound that filtered in.

Used to rolling out of bed and rushing off to emergencies in the middle of the night, both Hermione and Draco were able to stand, brush themselves off and head for the door, completely professional. The only evidence about what had just happened was the slight pinkness that remained in both their cheeks.

The niggling feeling that something had changed kept prodding Hermione, but she pushed it aside in favour of her work. Nothing had to change between her and her partner just because a little lizard got it into its head that they would be good together. Nothing _would _change. They'd figure out how to be rid of Earl and then everything could go back to normal.

Hermione spun to Draco just before she opened the door flap. "The whole mess happened because you're too prideful and stubborn to let me do _this_," she whipped up her wand and healed his black eye before he had the chance to raise his own wand in defense. "Next time just shut up and let me heal you."

Earl chuckled. "They don't even realize how perfect they are for each other – yet." His last word left an ominous aura hanging in his wake.


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

**A/N: Hello readers! I'm going to keep this note pretty shirt since I hammered my finger today and it hurts to type.**

**Thanks to everyone who reviewed and special thanks to irianaceleste for betaing!**

**Oh! And I keep forgetting to ask you guys. A lot of you are guessing about Earl in your reviews. Do you want me to tell you if you guess right or if your guess is wrong, or just let it remain a mystery?**

**~Frosty**

Hermione found herself surrounded by a ring of bow-wielding centaurs for the second time in so many days. Most of the time she loved her job, but some days she wished she'd chosen some nice, boring desk job where the most exciting thing she could witness was someone dropping a stack of files. Immediately after wishing something so ludicrous she would always remind herself how mind-numbing bored she would get in such a situation though, and then she'd find herself glad that she didn't have to wallow in such tedium all the time.

Slightly behind her, Malfoy accidentally bumped her slightly, the action causing her to stumble. With quick reflexes, he managed to grab her elbow to steady her before she could fall. Their little dance distracted everyone in the area for a moment. Hermione glanced over at Draco and the movement brought them nearly nose to nose where they froze. Draco was the first to get a hold of himself, budging her away from him.

Hermione looked at the ground and blushed before noticing their audience and putting on her professional face.

Sometime during their little scuffle, Earl had emerged unnoticed and scurried up Draco to rest on his head.

The centaurs flooded the clearing in an arrow formation, all of them with bows up, ready for attack. A straight-backed grey was at the head. His hair was long and flowing down his back in a steely sheet that was surprisingly sleek considering he spent all of his time running through reaching twigs and clinging vines, all of them just waiting to twist and snarl such nice hair into knots. Maybe there was a trick to it that Hermione hadn't noticed; her hair probably still had a twig in it.

It was obvious that he was in charge by the way all of the other centaurs arranged themselves around him. Not only that, but he looked regal, with his very straight posture and crown of woven twigs resting on his steely grey hair.

When the head centaur caught sight of the small lizard resting in his nest of Draco's hair, he lowered his bow. All of the other centaurs followed his example.

"I am Argentan," he said, "Your arrival has been foretold." His head dipped slightly in what could only be the equivalent of a centaur bow. The lower ranked centaurs actually bent their front legs down to the grass in full bows.

"Um – what?" Hermione asked intelligently.

Draco was just as confused, but content to let his partner handle the talking. She'd been doing it for years in situations requiring the diplomacy for which he very rarely had the patience.

Argentan looked condescendingly down his Romanesque nose at her. Centaurs didn't like humans in general and Ministry employees in particular, so Hermione and Draco were doubly disliked. "The arrival of the great-"

"Earl," the lizard spoke quickly.

Realization dawned on Hermione and Draco that the centaurs knew what – or who - Earl was. They also simultaneously realized that Earl had no intentions of letting them find out. He probably had some sort of strange tasks they had to achieve before he would permit them the knowledge. There was more to Earl than met the eye – much more. His mystery only seemed to grow.

"I appreciate the reverence," Earl said with a pointed look at the two humans who had repeatedly shown him nothing but disrespect, "But you need to stand up. These humans have an important message to deliver and I want you to heed their warning."

Every eye in the clearing was suddenly trained on Hermione. By some unspoken agreement, even the centaurs knew that it was she and not Malfoy who was there to deliver the message. Strange. It was like they could sense that he was only going to get himself killed if he were allowed to talk. Perhaps that was why Earl had chosen Draco as his perch, to keep the centaurs from shooting him should he say something offensive.

"Poachers have been kidnapping magical creatures from all over the world and pitting them against each other for their own entertainment." The centaurs rustled amongst themselves, their agitation at the news obvious. "We have reason to believe that you centaurs are targets for the next round."

Argentan's head tilted to the side in contemplation as he pondered the new information. "And what _other _motives do you have beyond this warning?"

Hermione bristled slightly in indignation, but recovered herself quickly. Her hope had been that the centaurs would appreciate the warning and just cooperate. She should have known better.

It was Draco who answered while his partner struggled for something to say in her own defense. Hostility was his native tongue and he appreciated the centaur's abruptness, even if Hermione didn't. "We would like to put a tracking spell on you all so that if one of you is taken, we'll be able to find their headquarters. Besides that, there's no other motives. Honestly, you centaurs aren't as interesting as you seem to think. We're not interested in knowing whatever important centaur secrets that you think you have."

Hermione wanted to slap a hand to her face – possibly her insensitive partner's - when every one of the centaurs straightened up and raised their bows once more. She _knew _Malfoy was capable of being diplomatic, she'd seen him do it before, but it was mostly with his mother.

The centaurs didn't seem to hear anything past the words "tracking spell". They were all murmuring amongst themselves and Argentan started yelling. "Your Ministry wants to track our movements! They've been working on something like this for years – tracking us like animals so they can watch our populations and try to learn our secrets!"

The speech was accompanied by a unanimous shout of agreement from the rest of the herd. Hermione began to worry that the centaurs would shoot them on principle for even suggesting a tracking spell.

"Come on chaps," Earl piped up, for some reason thinking that it was a good time to bring out his horribly fake English accent once more. It seemed to fade into something more normal most of the time, only emerging when he was feeling particularly meddlesome. "You know who I am and I'm guessing you've foretold that I'm here to do good things. I want you to trust the humans."

That put a stop to their objections, but all of the other centaurs looked to their leader for his decision.

If a lizard could present a sincere and trustworthy front, Earl was doing it.

Even though Earl was... whatever he was and the centaurs seemed to have respect for him, Argentan was still thinking pretty hard about his decision. Hermione decided to help him along.

"The tracking spell would only be something short term. I can come and cancel it as soon as this whole thing has been resolved," she said.

Stepping forward, Argentan held out his hand. "I know who you are, Hermione Granger. I've heard of your bravery during the fight against Voldemort as well as some of the advances you have made in magical creature rights. I will hold you to your word."

Solemn, Hermione shook the offered hand. "You have it."

As the centaurs ran off and disappeared among the trees, one of them remained behind, looking at Hermione – and especially Draco – with eyes free from the hostility and distrust that the other centaurs had shown.

The remaining creature was a smaller, female, centaur whose legs still held some of the spindly awkwardness of a filly. She was young, but her human half was that of a human in her late teens, including her fully developed and uncovered breasts. Her coat was the darkest black, but her skin was moon pale. The contrast was strange, but not unpleasant.

Without even looking at him, Hermione whacked her partner as a reminder not to stare. He grumbled something that sounded like, "Wasn't looking."

"I am Isolde," the centaur said quietly. She seemed to be shy. "I apologise for my father's rudeness. He is not very trusting of humans, but I do not share the same prejudices." Her eyes slipped sidelong over to Draco, who was beginning to look uncomfortable. With her long horse legs, her chest was eye level for him.

Hermione decided that she should step in. "Centaurs were mistreated by wizards in the past. We understand your father's hesitance to trust us."

When Isolde just continued to stare as if watching the newest attraction at a zoo, Hermione thought it best to find out what she wanted. "Is there something we could do for you?"

"Like get you a shirt," Earl suggested. He didn't seem to like the fact that Isolde was distracting Draco from paying Hermione her proper attention.

"I apologise," Isolde was actually blushing. Hermione hadn't known it possible for Centaurs to blush.

Isolde looked down at her chest and bent her front legs a few times to bounce. "Father says it is time I wear a breast band like the other mares, but once I do, it will mark me as a woman, no longer a child. I will not be permitted to run with Father and his guard once I am officially an adult. Politics are not for women."

It was a shame that someone as obviously as intelligent as Isolde would probably not be able to participate in the politics of her people like she wanted merely because of her gender. If there was anything Hermione could have done to help, she would have, but she knew that the centaurs, even Isolde, would not welcome her interference.

"What I wanted was the tracking spell," Isolde continued. "Father insisted that you not cast it on me, and I want it."

"Why?"

"The spell travels through touch, yes?"

Hermione nodded. The one used on the fire-breathing salamanders had only needed proximity to another member of the species, but she had altered it slightly for the centaurs in an attempt to preserve some of their control of the situation and put them at ease.

"Father made sure that I did not get the spell, just as he will make sure that none of the other females and children get the spell. He thinks it a matter of pride to protect his own women and children."

"Bloody pride," Draco muttered.

Hermione was in complete agreement. They had a difficult choice on their hands: grant Isolde her wish and risk a war with the centaurs, or deny Isolde and risk the lives of all of the young and female centaurs.

"I will not tell anyone," Isolde added, "I would never be allowed to accompany Father again if he found out that I have undermined him in such a way."

"Give her the spell," Earl decided.

Hermione had been leaning towards doing that anyway, so she complied. She'd deal with any political implications of her actions later. Hopefully, Isolde would keep her word and there would be none.

With a smile of thanks and a last deep bow to Earl, Isolde ran off into the forest after her father.

* * *

"What the hell _are_ you?" Draco demanded of Earl. As soon as Isolde disappeared into the trees, he had snatched the lizard off of his head and held it out in front of him so he could start the interrogation.

Earl merely popped out of existence and reappeared on Hermione's head, clutching her curls to keep him there as they hiked back through the forest. He knew he was safe from Draco while perched on Hermione.

Draco dug his Portkey out of his pocket and held it out to Hermione, shooting Earl nasty looks the entire time. He knew that he wasn't going to get any answers and couldn't catch Earl to beat them out of him, so he resigned himself to not knowing for the time being. He wasn't going to bother expending further energy in an exercise of futility.

"Now we just have to infiltrate the organization," Hermione said as they walked back to her office to do paperwork – well, _Hermione _was going to do the paperwork and Malfoy was going to watch her and discuss strategy.

"I have a few Floo calls to make. There are some pretty twisted individuals in my family; one of them has to know where to go to attend one of these things."

It was sad, but it was the truth. On more than one occasion some subtle questions to his family had led to an arrest. They didn't like to use this option until the others had been completely exhausted in case someone caught on to their game. Hermione was just glad that Draco was on the good side.

When they were in sight of Hermione's office door, a lump that had been sitting on the floor beside it rose and bounced over to them. It was a very petite redheaded girl that Hermione was pretty sure she'd never seen before.

"I wanted to make sure your eye was okay," the girl said, stopping right in front of Malfoy and looking up at him with her large, sincere eyes. "I'm _so _sorry for hitting you with that door. They told me that you'd be back today so I wanted to make sure you were going to be okay, but it's _healed_!"

Draco looked a little bewildered and Hermione may have intervened to help him if she hadn't been so busy trying to suppress her laughter. It was no wonder he'd been so embarrassed to tell her how he'd managed to blacken his eye.

Once again, Earl did his little disappearing trick and then appeared on Draco's shirt at eye-level with the girl, hissing. "Whatever you're thinking, little girl, forget it. He's never going to want you."

"Earl!" Hermione yelped, aghast. She'd never heard the lizard sounding so malicious and threatening.

The girl's eyes welled with tears. "I just wanted to take him out for dinner to apologise for blackening his eye!"

"I forbid the date to happen," Earl announced. It was exactly the wrong thing to say.

"Then it's definitely happening." Malfoy took the crying girl's elbow and towed her out of the office with him, even though he was very obviously uncomfortable with her tears. His discomfort would have been amusing if it wasn't for the tiny little twinge that felt an awful lot like jealousy that had taken root beneath her heart.

"He's never taken well to being forbidden from doing something," Hermione observed. Knowing that her paperwork was only going to multiply if she ignored it, she retreated inside her office to wait for Draco.

It turned out that she didn't have to wait long. Before she had even dipped her quill in the ink, he was back, looking disturbed as he slipped into the room and shut the door firmly behind him. Earl seemed to be sulking and was refusing to speak to anyone and Draco was never much of a talker, so Hermione just continued with her paperwork as Draco kneeled down in front of her fireplace to start making his Floo calls.

* * *

"I hate fur," Hermione muttered, shuddering at the oily feeling of the floor-length coat she was wearing. It bothered her to think that tiny creatures had died just to make something stylish for her to wear.

"You're going to see worse before the night's out," Malfoy admonished. "Now be glad that I didn't grab you Mother's fox stole as well. It has glass eyes, a face, and a tendency to butt into conversations with the most inappropriate dirty jokes."

The coat was – unknowingly – donated by Narcissa for their mission. The poor woman still thought her son was in Egypt, but he had been home and raiding her closet to steal some of her most expensive pieces. If he didn't love his mother so much, Hermione would accuse Malfoy of being a bad son.

Hermione shifted the coat on her shoulders one last time before settling back into her seat. They had been right in their assumptions that at least one member of Draco's family would know where the horrible show would take place. Immediately upon their acquisition of the information, they stopped at the Manor to steal some of Narcissa's clothes and a suit for Draco so that they could go watch death in _style _like all the most prestigious Purebloods.

"So... you have a date later tonight?" Hermione asked, trying to make idle conversation. The "Creature Coliseum," as it was called, blocked Apparition and didn't have fireplaces for Flooing, so they were stuck taking a carriage to their destination since Portkeys were just so _common_. It was a magical carriage, able to make great jumps in distance without disturbing the passengers. Even with this magical assistance, the carriage trip wasn't a short one.

A snort came from her chest area. Earl had insisted that he was going to come along, and when Hermione had objected that he was too conspicuous, he changed himself into a bright, metallic gold, and gems appeared all over his body. Clinging to the front of her disturbing coat, he looked just like a ridiculously expensive brooch. Earl still didn't approve of the idea of Draco dating, but besides the slightly odd, squidgy feeling in her stomach that she refused to read anything into, Hermione didn't see what was wrong with Draco dating whomever he wished.

"I told her that _if _I get back in time I'll allow her to take me to dinner as an apology provided that she never mentions it again." His tone made it clear that the subject was dropped and they were never going to speak of it again. Having no desire to talk about it anymore, Hermione obeyed his wishes and dropped it. They spent the rest of their ride in silence.

"I would have thought something so horrible and illegal would be somewhere more... subtle," Hermione said as they pulled up to what appeared to be some sort of Roman-style Coliseum. It was a round structure with numerous arches making up the exterior.

"You're a blonde now, Granger. Lighten up." He was referring to the appearance-altering spells they had cast over Hermione to change her looks so that no one would recognise her. Draco's appearance was similarly altered with long black hair tied in a bow and a hooked nose that could put Snape's to shame. Neither of them would be able to recognise themselves had they looked in the mirror, which had been their intention.

"You're naturally a blond and you're hardly _light_," she muttered. Hermione would go as far as to say that Draco's high-strung personality lent weight to almost everything he did. Rarely did he just let go and joke around. Hell, she still wasn't sure if he'd ever _played_, even as a child. She had a feeling that kind of thing hadn't been allowed in Malfoy Manor.

Draco came up behind her and placed a hand on her back to guide her through the crowd that was slowly filtering into the arena. They had agreed before leaving that the best cover for them would be to appear as a couple since this would give them a reason to be close enough to whisper all evening without anyone being suspicious. As far as the other audience members would be concerned, Hermione and Draco were going to be just another couple whispering sweet nothings while blameless creatures were forced to kill each other in the stadium below.

"At least try to wipe the disapproving look off of your face," Draco murmured, having bent down a little so that his lips were right next to her ear.

She tried, she really did, but Hermione wasn't really an actress. Her passion about her causes prevented her from being able to do well under cover. It was part of the reason that she'd never become an Auror.

With their black tie clothing and mildly irritated expressions, Hermione and Draco fit right in with the crowd. No one even gave them so much as a second look as they followed everyone else through the archway and found their seats.

There were four main entrances at ground level, as well as numerous smaller ones through the arches. Two stories of seating, each containing around ten rows of cushioned chairs wrapped the circular arena in the centre of the building. The area itself was covered in what looked like red sand, sprinkled with the occasional trap door.

_Red sand so that the blood doesn't show_, Hermione thought, immediately averting her eyes from the sight. In an attempt to block out what was going to happen next in the arena, she listened to the conversations around them. Most of them seemed to be on the same topic.

"Did you hear about the trouble they had gathering this batch?" the woman directly behind Draco asked her neighbour. "They were very nearly caught by some of those do-gooder Ministry drones. I heard they started a manticore stampede and killed the pesky Ministry workers."

Well, now Hermione knew who to blame for her brush with death by manticore venom – as if she needed another reason to hate the poachers. They shamelessly made the magical creatures fight each other as well as anyone who attempted to stop them from continuing their horrible business.

Draco nudged her in the side with an elbow. "It's starting," he said emotionlessly. Only someone who knew him well would be able to detect the grim tone in his voice.


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12**

**A/N: Hello readers! I finally got my new computer! Unfortunately, this means that Microsoft Office and I are having a prety big disagreement what with it not wanting to transfer over to my new computer... Anyway! What this means for you guys is that you get a chapter early, mostly because I'm not sure how long it'll take me to sort this out (and I've deleted everything from the other computer, so I'm **_**really **_**hoping I can sort it out). Also, it appears that my little red lines are missing, so when the spaces somehow disappeared around my italics as they always do when I get betaed chapters back (ff . net seemes to do it for fun) I can't see it underlined. I've read this through twice, but it's possible I missed one, sorry.**

***deep breath* Now, on to more fun things. Thanks to eveyone who reviewed and also to irianaceleste for beating!**

**Now, I just have to get to the bottom of why this thing is **_**beeping **_**at me... It should tell you instead of just giving you a mysterious beep *muttering***

**~Frosty**

The moment a chained sphinx was raised into the arena through one of the trapdoors in the red sand of the stadium floor, Hermione's whole body tensed. It went against all of her instincts to just sit there and _watch _the cruelty she knew was about to happen.

Sensing that she was on the verge of jumping out of her seat and helping the creature, Draco placed a heavy hand on her knee, holding her in her chair. To a casual observer, it probably looked affectionate, but he was squeezing so hard that it almost hurt, a warning to keep her head and pretend to be unaffected by the promised spectacle.

It was a warning she desperately needed when, a moment after bringing out the sphinx, a magical barrier was erected around the arena to keep the creature away from the audience but trapped within the stadium and the chains were removed.

An announcer's charismatic voice echoed around the coliseum. "Welcome, ladies and gentlemen, to the fourth Creature Battle! We have quite a show for you this afternoon. First up is the sphinx. Since her specialty is riddles, we're accepting challengers from the audience to prove themselves against this fierce creature."

Hermione was horrified for so many reasons. She kept asking herself how it was possible for the Ministry to overlook the disappearance of enough magical creatures to run three of these macabre games before they noticed.

There was a surprisingly large number of people – predominantly young men – who were willing to report down to the arena to take their chances against the creature housed there. The sphinx, bearing her teeth at anyone who ventured too close, was hit with stinging hexes to stop her from charging at the first challenger as he was introduced into the arena. Her eyes were pained and extra wide when the barrage of hexes stopped.

Instead of challenging the man who approached her, the sphinx reared back and pawed at the trapdoor from which she had entered the stadium. The wood of the door refused to bend under her scratching and a pair of men who were obviously working for the show came up behind her and hit her with more stinging hexes. A pained roar echoed around the coliseum and the crowd answered with one of their own, seeming to enjoy the show.

Hermione tried to keep her eyes open and her face blank while ignoring what she was seeing. Head hanging in defeat, the sphinx faced her first challenger. She was magically bound not to attack until her riddle had been answered, so the stinging hexes stopped as the challenger pondered over his question.

The first challenger answered wrong and the barrage of hexes started once more to prevent the sphinx's natural instinct to pounce on him. Once safely behind the protective magical barrier again, the man was praised by his fellow challengers for his bravery. The next challenger was more skilled with riddles. He answered correctly and was permitted to fire a hex of his own at the sphinx before he was ushered back out of the arena. This pattern continued as the line of volunteers decreased.

The sphinx's speech got more and more high-pitched every time they hit her with the spells and she occasionally released a pained roar that grated along Hermione's bones and shivered up her spine. It wasn't a sound she was going to forget anytime soon.

Sometime during the show, Hermione's hands latched onto Draco's upper arm, and not long after that, her face was pressed against the expensive fabric of his suit just above where her hands were gripping.

Malfoy allowed it for a few minutes since she wasn't the only woman in the audience having a similar reaction – though he suspected that many of those women were just looking for an excuse to get closer to their date. However, when the last challenger was finished with the sphinx and the creature was herded back over to the trapdoor and lowered below the arena, he shook his partner off of his arm.

"Pull yourself together," he hissed. "We've got more to accomplish today, and it's not going to work if you're cowering against me like you have pudding in place of a backbone."

Knowing he was right, she straightened up and faced forward. "It looks like we need to go down there if we want to get a tour behind the scenes."

There were remarkably few people wanting to get a look at what was happening behind the scenes of the show. Hermione could only assume the lack of interest was because no one really cared about the magical creature aspect of the show, just in the violence and bloodshed portion.

Draco produced a pouch of gold from his pocket and slipped it to the man standing at the entrance to the basement under the arena. They were allowed down into the bowls of the coliseum without further fuss from anyone.

The air was much cooler below the ground, and it would have been pleasant if the pain and suffering in the air hadn't been nearly palpable. Too many creatures kept in spaces too small left the entire place smelling of excrement, blood, and sweat. There were a few poachers loitering around, occasionally shooting sparks and stinging hexes at the captive creatures, but they said nothing against Hermione and Draco. It seemed that it wasn't unheard of for the audience to bribe their way behind the scenes.

It was dark, only a few scattered torches lighting the entire space. What could have been a huge room was divided into a series of small corridors and rows of cages, many of them containing magical creatures. Hermione was faced with an overwhelming feeling of helplessness because she knew that she wasn't going to be able to save them all.

"Come along, love," Draco said when she started to slow her progress in front of the cages. He grabbed her hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze that caught her by surprise; her partner wasn't usually one to coddle, even those who were close to him. Despite acting like lovers for the watching eyes of the poachers, the additional comfort of the little squeeze of her hand was something that wasn't necessary for their ruse. She appreciated it.

"It's a shame we can only watch," Draco said loudly, putting on his persona of arrogant and heartless Pureblood. The one that he had wore for much of his school career. "I don't think its entertainment unless I get some blood on my hands."

Ironically, this was true, but in reality, Draco only fought things that fought back, like magical creatures that were trying to kill him, or Auror trainees who needed some of the eagerness beaten out of them and sense pounded into them.

Hermione clung to his arm, making sure that her breasts were very obviously pressed against him as she stared up at him, trying to look adoring. "You're so _brave_."

"I'm a man, love. We need to get our hands dirty from time to time to prove our masculinity."

Just as they had intended, their talk grabbed the attention of some of the loitering poachers. "You want in on the _real _action?" a large man in a stain-covered shirt asked, lumbering over to them.

Draco answered in the affirmative.

"We could use another man after that useless moron got himself captured by the Ministry," another man said as he stepped forward. This one was much smaller and cleaner than the first man. "You look capable. Would you be willing to take Veritaserum to guarantee that you're not an Auror?"

Shaking Hermione off of his hand as she clung to it, Draco gave her a patronising look that normally would have earned him a hex, or at least a good kick in the shin. "Go look at the animals while the men talk."

The men laughed as she walked away. Hermione pretended to be scared of the loud, dangerous creatures that were housed in the cages around her while she was actually scanning them to see which ones were most in need of rescue.

"Let's get some of those poor creatures out of here," Earl said in an uncharacteristically quiet voice. In a place where unusual creatures were collected, it was safest that he keep a low profile. He'd been successful in pretending to be a normal brooch up until that moment, which was impressive.

She nodded.

In Hermione's pocket, there were three portkeys. She was going to have to choose the three magical creatures that were the worst off and leave the rest. It broke her heart to have to make such a choice, but at least she could do a _little _good for the poor beings besides just the reconnaissance that she and Draco were doing.

The sphinx was first. After the little display that she'd just witnessed, Hermione _needed _to free the sphinx. In addition to being on the verge of breaking, the creature was also endangered and sentient enough to really understand what was happening to her. Hermione hated doing it, but she was being forced to rationalize saving one creature and leaving others to their potential doom. Her only consolation was that they were going to try and bring down the organization before more creatures could be hurt.

Slowly, so she didn't startle the creature and so that it would appear that she was afraid in case the men were still watching, Hermione approached the sphinx's cage. The bars were as thick as her arm and the cage wasn't large enough for the poor sphinx to stretch out her wings. The proud creature's head hung nearly to the ground as she crouched in the farthest corner in fear of more hexes.

"I'm sorry this happened to you," Hermione said mournfully. She glanced over her shoulder to see that the men had taken Malfoy into a back room, presumably to give him the Veritaserum and question him. There wasn't time to waste worrying that he would be okay; she'd just have to count on her partner to take care of himself – at least until she finished with her task and was free to assist him.

"Leave me, human!" the sphinx spat.

"I'm here to free you." Hermione fished the wrapped Portkey out of her pocket, pulled the wrapping off of the top, and extended her hand into the cage, trusting that the sphinx wasn't going to claw her hand off. "This is a Portkey that will transfer you to the Ministry. From there, we'll make sure that you get back home."

"Why should I trust you?" The sphinx tried to sound hostile and unwelcoming, but her head had come up slightly and she edged forward.

"Because nothing I can do is worse than the treatment you're getting here."

That was all the encouragement the sphinx needed. She stretched out a huge paw to touch the Portkey and disappeared.

A small, ill-looking centaur and a phoenix with the cloudy eyes of the blind took the other two Portkeys. Hermione heard the door opening that signified the return of her partner and the men. Quickly, she punched herself in the eye, cast a light slicing hex to tear the edge of her skirt and make her leg bleed a little, and crumpled to the floor in tears. After all of the horrible things she'd witnessed that afternoon, the tears weren't hard to summon.

"What happened here?" the smaller man demanded as Draco, with feigned concern, rushed forward to embrace her. Despite knowing it was fake comfort, Hermione's distress wasn't entirely feigned and it felt nice to be in his arms.

"S-someone came an-and _shoved me down_!" For dramatic effect, Hermione added a wail at the end of her sentence that made Malfoy cringe away from her slightly.

"The sphinx is gone!" the larger man exclaimed. He rounded on Hermione. "Did you see what happened?"

"Who cares about the animal, my girlfriend has been _attacked_!" Draco growled. He stood up, keeping his arms around Hermione so that he lifted her along with himself. At his most intimidating, even with a crying girl in his arms, Draco had the two men somewhat cowed.

"We'll deal with this. You should get her out of here."

The carrying charade continued until Draco had placed Hermione into the carriage, at which point he took the seat across from her and she stopped her tears. Hermione spent a moment peeking out her window at the coliseum, hoping that the rest of the show was going to be cancelled. The people streaming out of the exits, looking put out suggested that it probably had been.

"There's a phoenix, centaur, and the sphinx waiting for us back at the Ministry." Her voice held a slight croak from all of the crying she'd done, but her demeanour was entirely professional despite the aching and insistent sadness that she still felt. "How'd the questioning go? Are you in?"

Draco nodded. "The idiots used Veritaserum on me, but they asked me if I was an Auror, not if I was working for the Ministry or looking to ruin their little organization or any of the many questions that would have led me to ruin my cover. It's a wonder they haven't been caught before now."

* * *

After making sure that the rescued creatures received the medical attention they needed and were sent to their respective habitats – with some protection spells in place, of course - Hermione, Earl, and Draco headed back to Hermione's house.

"I've seen some impressive acts of cruelty in my time, yet I'm always surprised at the horrors you humans are capable of," Earl said sadly. "And that's saying something. My father is one of the most bloodthirsty creatures you'll ever meet."

Hermione needed a change of subject. If they kept talking about what they'd just witnessed, then she was going to have nightmares and would be useless in the morning because she'd been tossing and turning all night.

"Are you going to go on that date with the trainee?" she asked, ignoring Earl and turning to Draco instead.

"I just spent a shitload of gold bribing our way into that place," he said with a shrug, "I may as well let someone else pay for _my _meal for once."

"The Ministry would reimburse you if you'd just _fill out the paperwork_." Hermione was already feeling a little better, falling back into their usual argument. Forms were a safe thing to talk about. She was familiar with forms and they didn't remind her of anything horrible.

"Good_bye_, Granger." Draco wasn't cooperating. He didn't feel like having the familiar argument with his partner again when he had somewhere else to be.

Earl climbed onto her shoulder as soon as Malfoy was out the door. His entire being was exuding outrage and frustration. "You're just going to let that slag move in on your man?"

She brushed the lizard off of her shoulder and went to the Floo. It had been a while since she'd checked in with Harry and she figured it was probably a good idea to inform at least one Auror that Draco was going to infiltrate a criminal organization. Aurors were so touchy about other departments on the Ministry - people who were technically "civilians" – doing dangerous things like going under cover. Hermione understood the concern, but that didn't mean she wasn't frustrated by it.

* * *

"You did _what_?" Harry demanded. In Hermione's opinion, he was being unreasonably whiny about her whole explanation. He'd done things that were so much more dangerous in his lifetime; he'd been there when _she _had done things that were much more dangerous. She didn't see why he had to get so worked up about it. Any danger she had been in was over.

Hermione sighed and repeated herself. "Draco and I infiltrated the poaching organization and freed some of their captives. They seem to have accepted Draco as one of their members and we hope to bring down the whole operation in the very near future."

"Hermione, do you know how dangerous that was?"

"I'm well aware of the danger that was involved, thank you, Harry. We took a calculated risk and it paid off."

He rubbed a hand over his face. "I'm sorry, Hermione. I just worry about you, and apparently it's warranted, since you're keeping all of these secrets from me. I mean, you were keeping the fact that Malfoy was your partner from me for _years_. It stings a little."

"I'm sorry, Harry," she said, hanging her head slightly.

Hermione Granger was anything but stupid; she'd known that keeping the identity of her partner a secret was going to come crashing down around her at some point, but that didn't mean that she was prepared to handle her friend's hurt. She hadn't meant to hurt him; things had just gotten out of hand.

"What is it about the git that makes you willing to lie for him? You could have spoken to Kingsley and had a different partner assigned. There are advantages to knowing the Minister."

"I gave him a second chance and he proved himself reliable, Harry. There's no one else who could do his job quite the way he does. Somehow we work together quite well." Her tone was reproachful. She was sorry that she'd hurt him, but she wasn't going to let him walk all over her just because she was feeling guilty. Keeping Draco secret from her friends had been a mistake, but keeping him as her partner was certainly _not _a mistake.

"I still think he's a git," Harry said almost petulantly.

"Almost everyone does."


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13**

**A/N: Hello readers! In case you haven't noticed, all is once again well with my writing program. It took me a 40 minute call to Microsoft, and then another one to my local computer people, but I have it back! **

**Just to avoid confusion, Draco calls Earl a toad, frog, etc, to be insulting. Earl is a lizard.**

**Thanks to everyone who reviewed! Also thanks to irianaceleste for betaing! **

**~Frosty**

Hermione was just walking Harry over to the fireplace so he could Floo home when her door burst open, bashing against the wall with a bang. Before she'd even caught a look at his face, she knew her partner was upset, the bang serving as a warning that his temper was foul.

Draco stepped into the room, looking downright murderous. The reason for his displeasure became apparent when he was followed into the room by his mother, wearing a very stern and disapproving expression.

"Granger, Mother would like her coat back." His teeth were clenched so tightly that it was a wonder any words came out at all. A grinding sound seemed more likely, or perhaps a clinking crunch as they shattered under the pressure.

Immediately, Hermione rushed into her room where she had discarded the coat after changing out of her costume. When she'd collapsed to the floor of the arena basement in false hysterics, Hermione had picked up a few unpleasant things from the ground and had intended on getting it professionally cleaned before she returned it. Draco had guaranteed that his mother wouldn't notice it missing for a few extra days while she sent it to be cleaned. Apparently he'd been wrong.

"I'm sorry, Mrs. Malfoy," Hermione said as she came back into the room with the dirty coat. "I was going to return it as soon as I had it cleaned."

"I've told you, Hermione, it's Narcissa," the blonde woman said. She surveyed what she could see of the fur and seemed to be satisfied that it wasn't ruined. "I'm not angry about the coat. What I _am _upset about is that Draco has been back in the country for _days _and didn't see fit to tell his _mother_." Narcissa's sharp eyes turned back to her son. "You missed a lovely visit with your cousin. I wish you weren't so opposed to meeting the family. They're not as horrible as you seem to think."

Harry snickered from where he was still standing by the fireplace. He knew he should leave, but there was something horribly fascinating about watching one's enemy get torn down a few pegs by his mother.

"Laugh it up, Potter," Malfoy snarled. "You're not going to live to leave the room."

Of _course _this threat meant that both men suddenly had their wands out and pointing at their school rival. It was always the fighting with those two.

Hermione's day had been stressful. She'd spent much of it on the verge of tears and then a small portion of it actually _in _tears, near hysterical tears at that. Her nerves were frayed and she just didn't have any patience left to handle what was about to be a duel in her living room.

She thrust the coat into Narcissa's arms, grabbed Malfoy's wand right out of his hand, and then marched the few steps across the room to Harry. Being the survivor that he was, Harry was in the fire and calling out his address before she reached him. He knew when he was fighting a futile and dangerous battle that he'd never win. The shadow of a grim little smile flickered across Hermione's mouth before it disappeared into a scowl.

Suddenly finding herself without a target, Hermione rounded on her partner once more. He wasn't looking too pleased that she'd stolen his wand, but, unlike most people, she'd never been intimidated by his threatening looming, so she didn't let it bother her.

"Hermione?" Narcissa asked as the brunette stared at Malfoy with as much murder in her eyes as he exhibited towards everything.

With a deep breath, Hermione calmed herself, suddenly releasing all of her anger and just looking sad. "We've seen enough violence today, Draco. We don't need any more fighting, especially not in my living room," she said hollowly as she handed back his wand handle first, as was polite.

Draco pocketed it instead of continuing the fight. It wasn't Granger who had angered him anyway; he'd just had so much irritation that he was lashing out at everyone.

"Don't worry about the coat," Narcissa said, her eyes darting between the two younger people with a strange look on her face. "I have a feeling that part of the plan was Draco's idea anyway."

"I'm sorry again about the coat."

"Nonsense, it was getting stuffy in that closet anyway. I'm glad someone got some use out of it."

Draco was getting fed up with the small talk. "Mother, can you get on with the yelling or the guilt-tripping or whatever it is you're here for, because Granger's right; it's been a long day and I could really use some sleep."

"I'm hurt that you didn't tell me you were back, but I understand that you just wanted to spend some uninterrupted time with Hermione here," Narcissa said. "I don't know what you were doing out in the middle of Diagon Alley with that Auror trainee girl when you have Hermione here. You shouldn't be out and about town with other women! What will people think?"

"I don't _have _Granger! I'm only here because of the bloody lizard! Granger and I aren't dating!"

Rubbing her temples, Hermione leaned against the nearest wall. She really just wanted to go to bed and cry for a while before sleeping. Draco's complaints were only making her feel worse. "I'm really sorry for being rude, Narcissa, but would you mind horribly if I went to bed? I think I'm developing a migraine," Hermione said softly.

The frown that Narcissa had directed towards her son softened as she took in Hermione's sagging stance and pained expression. "Draco, go bring her some tea."

Surprisingly, Draco didn't even consider arguing about waiting on other people, or his partner being below a Malfoy, or something similarly annoying. He just walked out of the room and into the kitchen, presumably to go make the tea.

"You seem to be the only one – besides me, of course - who can really get my boy to behave, and I'm afraid you have your work cut out for you," Narcissa commented. The brunette whipped her head up so fast that she had to clutch at it in an attempt to ease the ache that had worsened at the abrupt movement.

"I don't think you understand..."

"I understand perfectly," the blonde woman said, gathering the fur coat into a tight bundle so that it was easier for her to carry. "Tell Draco to drop in at the Manor before he leaves the country again, or else I'll be very cross with him. I need him to see to my rose garden before they're destroyed."

With that, she was gone and Hermione was left alone with her thoughts, primary among them was wondering what in the world was taking Draco so long to make a simple cup of tea. He was probably just hiding in the kitchen until his mother left. This was disappointing, since Hermione could really use some tea.

When Hermione pushed the door open and entered the kitchen, she found that Malfoy and Earl seemed to be having some sort of staring contest. The lizard was perched on top of the table to bring him closer to Malfoy's eye-level, but he still had to crane his neck in order to see the tall blond, who was towering over the small reptile in the way he usually loomed during an argument.

"You've been noticeably absent for the past few hours," Hermione said to the lizard. She wasn't going to ask what it was they'd been fighting over, mostly because she was relatively certain that she didn't want to know.

Earl shifted his legs in the lizard approximation of a shrug. "There was a butterfly sniffling around the window; I was hiding under your bed."

"Well then." There wasn't much that could be said to _that _– nothing polite anyway. It was tempting to mention how quiet it would be if there was _always _a butterfly lurking outside the windows, but Hermione was too polite to give in to the desire.

With a delighted little smile, Hermione discovered that Draco had indeed set out to make tea, going as far as to have the water boiled and tea bags waiting in a pair of mugs on the counter. It seemed that Earl had distracted him just as he'd been on the verge of pouring. Shame really, since Hermione now had to wait while it steeped.

"Your mother's gone home." Hermione settled at the table with her mug in front of her. She'd placed the other one in front of Draco on her way past him. "You have to pay her a visit before you leave the country again."

Draco grunted, but it wasn't clear whether the sound was in thanks for the tea or an acknowledgement that he understood about his mother.

They were silent as their tea steeped.

Sipping at her steaming mug, Hermione glanced at her companions over the rim of the cup. Both of them were staring at her with something other than idle interest in their eyes – how she'd come to read Earl's expressions, she wasn't sure, but there it was.

"So, Earl, are you ever going to explain the whole butterfly thing?" she asked, hoping to distract them from their staring. There was a bad feeling in the pit of her stomach that told her that she'd been the topic of their earlier argument, and she was a tad worried that they were going to drag her into it if she didn't distract them.

Earl was actually forthcoming with an answer for once – sort of. "Do you have any idea how angry your wife gets if you stay out decades after you said you'd be home? At this point, I'd rather stay away than endure the screeching I have waiting for me." He leaned his head down to rest on his crossed front legs. "Though I kind of miss her sometimes..."

"The butterfly you're hiding from is your wife?" Draco asked flatly. "And here you are trying to give _me _love advice?"

In a large gulp, Hermione finished off her tea and then set the empty mug in the sink. She blinked away tears, a reaction to her poor, scalded tongue, and headed out of the room. "I'm going to bed. If you two are going to have another row, do me a favour and cast some silencing spells."

* * *

Apparently her efforts to avoid thinking about the suffering magical creatures were in vain. It had been a silly endeavour anyway, what with her overdeveloped conscience and persistent morals.

Hermione awoke for the second time from yet another horrible nightmare and stared gloomily at the glowing red numbers of her clock. It was just after three in the morning, she was exhausted, pissed off, and the memory of what had been happening to those helpless creatures was eating away at her. Sometimes the job she loved so much had some major shortcomings.

When she left her room to get a glass of water to relieve the sour, sticky sensation on her tongue, she found that Draco was awake. His eyes were shining at her from the sofa despite the near complete darkness of the room.

"Can't sleep?" she asked quietly.

"Piss off."

Shrugging, Hermione continued past him to the kitchen. He was probably upset because she'd left him to deal with Earl on his own. Well, sod him! It was his own fault that he was picking random fights with the infuriating lizard. Draco was her partner, but she was only required to back him up in work-related situations, not shouting matches with reptiles.

Passing back through the living room, this time with her water, Hermione found that the lights were on and Draco was sitting up on the sofa. She recognised this for the invitation it was and perched herself on the opposite end.

"What's bothering you?" There had to be _something _on his mind if he was practically begging her to talk in the middle of the night – and for Malfoy, this was practically begging.

"She giggled," he said. "_Incessantly_. I found myself thinking on more than one occasion how much you disapprove of women who are always giggling."

A few sips of water allowed Hermione time to digest this. Her mind was still slow from sleep so she was just making sure that he made no sense before she questioned him on it. No matter which way she bent it, she couldn't figure out his problem. Yes, she thought women who giggled incessantly were irritating, but that had never deterred Draco from an attractive female before. If anything, he enjoyed flustering women to the point where all they could do was giggle helplessly. Hermione had seen him do this around the office when he got too bored and the coffee cart girl had already been reduced to tears.

"I'm not sure what the issue is," she finally admitted.

"I didn't shag her."

Hermione wrinkled her nose. "Is this one of those male insecurity things where you need a female to reassure you that your penis is adequate?" She must have been more tired that she'd thought, because while she probably would have thought that, it wasn't something she would normally voice.

"I assure you, my penis is _more _than adequate," Draco snapped. "But that isn't the issue. My problem is that I had no desire to shag her. None at all."

"She sounds like she was annoying. I don't blame you."

"I should have known better than to take this issue to someone with ovaries," Malfoy muttered.

"I just don't see what the problem is!" By this point, Hermione had finished her entire glass of water and set it on the table. She wasn't sure when, but she'd shifted around so that she was facing Malfoy, her crossed knees touching his leg.

"It's _love_," said Earl from somewhere under the sofa. "Kiss Hermione, it'll prove me right."

"I've told you before, you bloody newt, kissing Granger isn't going to prove anything because there's nothing there."

"I beg to differ."

Hermione sat back and idly watched them go at it, her cheeks slightly warm from the subject matter. She was getting the feeling that this wasn't the first time they'd had this argument. It was no wonder Draco had been so angry in the kitchen earlier.

Hermione started to tune out their bickering. Her earlier tossing and turning had left her exhausted, and the presence of light and company had banished much of the lingering misery from her nightmares.

"I'm sick and tired of a sodding reptile telling me what I _feel_. You're wrong!"

Half-asleep, Hermione was barely paying attention to the conversation – that is, until Malfoy grabbed her shoulders and kissed her. Naturally, having been completely unprepared for the attack, she froze, not sure what to do with herself.

Draco was persistent though, cupping the back of her neck in his large hand and keeping her in place while he did his best to kiss her senseless. He probably didn't want Earl to say later that his kiss hadn't been through enough to count.

Before she'd sorted out her feelings on this new development, her body had taken over and their tongues were tangled while her hands were twisted in his hair to pull him tighter against her.

"I can really tell that there's no spark there," Earl said. He sounded both amused and thrilled.

Jumping in shock like a child caught with a hand in the cookie jar, Draco shoved Hermione away so quickly that she landed on her butt and very nearly bashed her head on the coffee table. Instead of seeing if she was hurt or even noticing that she could have been, he turned to Earl. "There's nothing there, see? Now stop nagging me about kissing her!"

While he was yelling, Hermione stood up and limped off to her room, injured more than just physically. Never before had she entertained thoughts of deeper feelings for the blond arse that was there for a large chunk of every day – physical attraction, sure, but not anything deeper. She had, however, assumed that he'd at least had _some _respect for her. She'd obviously been wrong.

Just before she closed her bedroom door and put up silencing and locking charms, she heard Earl, voice dripping with disdain, tell Malfoy, "You're an idiot."

* * *

Draco looked to his partner for support in his crusade against the evil frog's lies and found that she was no longer there. In fact, he couldn't remember her being there since he pushed her away from him. His eyebrows creased as he retraced the last few minutes. Now that he was thinking about it, he _had _pushed her to the floor harder than he'd intended. It was just that he'd been so surprised about the severity of his reaction to her, and then hell bent on denying it to the all too smug pest.

Bloody hell, he really _was _an idiot. Granger must be furious with him.

He briefly flirted with the idea of knocking on her door and asking if she was okay, but she'd probably worked herself into a snit and silenced it, so she wouldn't even know that he had put in the effort. Besides, it was probably best that she thought he'd gotten carried away while proving the lizard wrong and forgotten the identity of the person he'd been orally interacting with instead of the truth; that he had gotten carried away _because _she was Granger and there was an odd pull between them.

Draco's mind was everywhere on the subject, offering up explanations and excuses for every new piece of evidence that cropped up saying that there may be something between him and his partner. He did care about her more than he did about most people, but his contempt for people in general wasn't exactly a secret. The bloody talking toad was going to be completely unbearable if it was actually right about him and Granger.

Rubbing his suddenly aching head, Draco pushed aside thoughts of Granger. Their partnership was one of the most stable relationships in his life at the moment, and he wasn't going to ruin it by shagging her. He wasn't even going to put further thought into his feelings since they only seemed to bring trouble and headaches.

There was one thing he knew for certain though; he was _not _going to have a peaceful morning.


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14**

**A/N: Hello readers! I've fallen behind in my review answering again, mostly because I've had a headache for the last few days that seems to absorb my energy. It's the stupid barometric changes *muttering*. **

**Anyway! Thanks to everyone who reviewed, I love to read your thoughts. Also thanks to irianaceleste for betaing!**

**To the anonymous reviewer who pointed out that Draco couldn't be broad shouldered and tall as an adult just because he was slight as a twelve year old seeker: have you never met a boy? I know a few who were short and then shot up in a few years, my brother for one. He was shorter than me (5'2) until 13 ish, then didn't stop growing for a few years. Now he's 5'11. So it's possible.**

**On a side note: look! I used frosty in the first sentence! Every time I see it I think it should be capitalized because that's ME. And I'm a Proper Noun.**

**~Frosty**

"Are you going to talk to me, or are we just going to spend the entire day in frosty silence?"

Hermione walked a little faster towards her office but didn't hold much hope for escaping him. His legs were a lot longer than hers and he knew where she was headed. He also wasn't afraid to push people out of the way when she tried to lose him around a group. The disadvantages were just too many; there was no way she could win. This fact wasn't helping her mood in the least.

"I _am _talking to you," Hermione said with a hint of impatience. "It's just that I have nothing to say right now."

Frustrated, Malfoy made a low growling sound, but he didn't press her any more. He merely followed behind her the rest of the way to her office. Being there so early in the morning wasn't usual for him, but Granger had been in a mood and he'd been a tad remorseful for the previous night, so he had accompanied her. The idea seemed to be backfiring since she wasn't even willing to talk to him about anything that wasn't work related.

Maybe it was the events of the previous day that was getting under her skin and he was just being presumptuous in thinking that her surliness was due to their late-night activities. It was worth a try; Draco was finding that Granger's reticence was starting to get to him.

"Granger, there's not another one of those... spectacles that we attended yesterday planned for a month, and the animals are treated passably while they're not performing. We just have to shut down their organization before the next fights and it'll be _fine._ Now stop your fretting so we can get on with the day."

Apparently that was the wrong thing to say, since she puffed up like an outraged cat and looked ready to claw out his eyes. Draco consoled himself with the knowledge that if she was yelling at him, then at least she was talking to him. Besides, the yelling was something normal; they fought all the time.

He found he was actually disappointed when she took in a huge breath and visibly released her anger before going right back to ignoring him.

Well. That wasn't what he'd intended at all. Maybe a new tactic? He stood in front of her desk, looming over her in that way that annoyed her so much.

She was so focused on poking at the creature that had nearly killed her while they'd been in the salamander cave that she didn't even bother _looking _at him.

The creature seemed to be a big thing in the world of magical creatures, something that had never been seen before. While Hermione was getting praise for discovering a new species, Draco received frowns for having killed it. Now she was ignoring him for the bloody creature - like he needed another reason to hate it.

Hermione sighed, fed up with his looming. "Sometimes, Malfoy, intimidation doesn't solve your problems."

"I know that!" he snapped. "That's when I usually start bribing people." His eyes narrowed slightly as his stare turned contemplative.

"Don't even think about it."

A few more moments of silence passed, Hermione jotting down notes and her partner doing nothing productive, as was normal.

"Malfoy, you don't have anything to do in the office other than watch me do _both _of our jobs. Why don't you go get yourself breakfast or something?"

Since it was kind of strange to be at the office so early and he obviously wasn't going to get Granger to go back to normal, Draco took her suggestion and left. Maybe the beverage slave was having a good day he could ruin, or a bright-eyed, new Auror trainee just begging to have their ideals and optimism crushed. Draco felt a little better just thinking about it.

Earl scurried out of Hermione's sleeve once Malfoy was safely out of the office. He'd been quietly observing their interactions all morning, and he wasn't pleased.

"If I was myself, you'd have bedded him long ago," Earl mourned.

Hermione contemplated the new information for a while, trying to think of what type of being could manipulate people like that. Unfortunately, she couldn't come up with anything off of the top of her head. When the whole poachers debacle was settled, she was going to hit the library with a vengeance.

Slyly, Earl edged closer to her. He knew her weakness. "If you kiss him again, I'll tell you _everything_."

Hermione was actually a little tempted, but she eventually shook her head, pushing Earl off of the paper she'd been using to take notes while examining the specimen. There were more important things than kisses and mysteries that needed to be done.

* * *

Malfoy returned a few hours later with a tea in hand, leaving her hoping that the "beverage slave" wasn't crying again. The Ministry would only allow for so much misbehaving before they issued him a citation and forced him into anger management. For a moment, she allowed herself to smile at the mental image of Malfoy in anger management. Someone would probably end up beheaded if it came to that. She made a mental note to confiscate his wand _and _his sword if he it ever came to anger management.

"A letter came for you," Hermione said absently, not looking up from her paperwork.

He placed a cup that Hermione hadn't noticed before on her desk and nudged it towards her.

"Who's this from?"

For a long moment, Hermione stared at the innocent looking paper cup sitting on her desk, steaming slightly. She recognised it as an apology, but she wasn't sure if she was willing to forgive him just yet. Nevertheless, she pulled it towards her and took a sip, nodding her thanks. It was just the way she liked it.

"I'm not sure who it's from," she said once she'd swallowed. A flick of her finger indicated the letter's location on her desk.

"It's from the poachers," Malfoy informed her after a lengthy examination of the letter. "They want me to help them with a capture tomorrow night."

* * *

If there was one thing that Draco hated above all others, it was stupid people. From what he'd heard so far, all of the poachers were about as sharp as cue balls, so he was in hell. They were just sitting around a table, bragging about their past exploits – both with women and in capturing magical creatures - over Butterbeers.

His only consolation was that the bloody newt that had insisted on accompanying him had to stay hidden in the presence of these people who were sure to be _very _interested in such an unusual specimen.

"So, new guy, what about you?" the largest and scruffiest of the men asked Draco, who had, up until that point, been quietly sipping his Butterbeer and doing his very best to refrain from whipping out his sword and stabbing someone. They really were idiots.

"Me?"

"Yeah, what have you done that's worth sharing?"

Considering that the things these men had been saying about women had made Draco feel dirty, he knew nothing like that was going to impress them. Working at the Ministry certainly wasn't going to impress anyone either – it would probably get him killed. There was only one thing he could show them that had even the smallest chance of impressing anyone.

With a sigh, Draco lifted his left sleeve. "I used to be a Death Eater." He did his best to sound proud of himself.

What would normally be horror was awe for these men as they saw his Dark Mark. Voldemort had been free enough with the things and his appearance was altered enough that he wasn't worried about being recognised, but he did get an unpleasant squirming feeling for bragging about something that he knew was a mark of horrible times.

He pulled his sleeve back down as quickly as he could without appearing uncomfortable. After all, he was supposed to be basking in their envy or some shite.

They needed a new topic; might as well get some reconnaissance done while he was forced to suffer the disgusting sods. He already knew the location of their base and could recognise their faces to apprehend the criminals, but he didn't have a few key details.

"So, whose idea was it to start these magical creature battles? And where do the profits go?" Was that subtle enough? He wasn't sure if that had been sufficiently subtle. Oh well. At least if they started to suspect him of something he'd be able to stop the charade and give into the urge to bash their heads in. Merlin, would that ever be satisfying.

"Wasn't us," grunted one of the men. He had a huge moustache that he didn't seem to notice was wilting from the Butterbeer foam that was collecting in it. Apparently they weren't very suspicious at all. Their continued success had to be because no one had suspected them of anything thus far.

"Our leader's the mastermind behind it," continued a different man. They were all lacking on the hygiene front and dim looking, practically interchangeable in their disgustingness. "The profits are divided up between the lot of us."

Draco nodded his understanding and went back to his drink, trying to fade into the background. He really didn't want to associate with the men more than he absolutely had to. Their stupidity might rub off on him.

The sound of boots on stone echoed around the stone room, making all conversation come to an abrupt halt, something that was a feat with such a rowdy lot. Draco turned towards the door, expecting the approaching person to be the leader.

"Suit up gentlemen; we're getting us some dragons tonight!"

Draco paled. Not just because he wasn't very fond of dragons, but because he recognised that voice.

* * *

Hermione was much too old to throw temper-tantrums. Her age was the only thing keeping the fit she threw from being classified as a temper-tantrum. With astounding calmness, considering his temperament, Malfoy had punched a wall and ordered her to stop bitching at him, informing her that the letter had specifically insisted that he come alone. He then added that she wouldn't be able to stand by and allow the poachers to capture another creature right in front of her anyway, so there was no point in her tagging along.

Her attempts to insist that he needed her as backup were brushed aside and dismissed. There was almost no danger of him being discovered as a Ministry employee. As far as their job went, this one was relatively safe. Still, she worried.

Needing a distraction from her fretting, Hermione found herself in Harry's office, sitting in his visitor's chair at nearly midnight. For once she was free of Earl and his irritating presence. The lizard had opted to go with Malfoy for the creature capture instead of hanging around with Hermione and waiting for Malfoy to return. Oddly enough, she was actually comforted with the fact that Earl was accompanying the acerbic blond. Somehow she knew that Malfoy was just a little bit safer with Earl there watching over him.

"What's got you so busy in the middle of the night?" Hermione asked after the silence started to get to her. Harry was supposed to be distracting her and here he was too busy with his work to actually do it!

"Something was bothering me about that couples tour we went on a while back," Harry mumbled absently. He didn't even bother looking up from the papers that were littering his desk.

Hermione let out a huff of irritation and leaned her chin against her fist. She was starting to understand why it irritated Draco so much when she did exactly the same thing. "Tell me all about it; I need the distraction."

"You know I can't disclose important case details to you, Hermione."

Her inner second year was sternly telling her that it was wrong to interfere with Harry's work. Warring with that voice was the insistent need to not think about Malfoy and the possible danger he was facing. The second year won the argument and she stopped talking to let Harry work.

Eventually, she must have fallen asleep curled up at a strange angle in the uncomfortable chair, because the next thing she knew she was startled awake by a loud bang. Naturally, she flailed like an idiot and ended up sprawled out on the floor. She would have been irritated if the sight standing in the doorway wasn't so utterly hilarious.

"I fucking hate dragons," Draco snarled. His clothes were completely shredded, but he didn't appear to be injured anywhere. Hermione wondered how in the world he had managed _that, _but she sensed that now wasn't the time to ask about it.

"You're not hurt, are you?" Hermione asked, her voice higher than normal with the laughter she was just barely managing to suppress.

He had to be out of sorts for him not to have laughed at her ungraceful dismount from the chair. Draco looked down at himself and frowned at the state of his clothes. "No, I'm not hurt. These are just from the bloody thing holding me as it tried to fly away. The claws only broke my skin in a few places and the poachers healed those before sending me back."

He had barely finished his sentence when Hermione allowed the laughter to burst forth. Even when camping in the middle of the desert, he still usually managed to maintain some level of orderliness to his appearance. As it was nearly impossible to appear even a tad put together with clothes that looked like they'd been through a paper shredder, and Hermione found his current state hilarious.

Having been silent as he sleepily watched the exchange, Harry finally spoke. "How did you know Hermione would be here in my office?"

"She frets too much to just go home and sleep when I'm risking my life on a job," Draco answered. His eyes only turned away from his partner and her amusing attempts to get herself up off the floor while still laughing as he finished speaking. "And you, Potter, are the only one she knows who works so ridiculously late."

Harry's mouth gaped a little, surprised that Malfoy knew Hermione so well, and that he was able to so easily and _correctly _deduce her location in the middle of the night. It was quite surprising that someone who came across as completely self-absorbed was able to know another person so well.

"Come on, Granger," Malfoy snapped when he'd had enough of her laughter. He didn't appreciate being laughed at during the best of times, and having it happen in front of Potter just soured him all the more.

It took the help of a chair before Hermione finally managed to lever herself off of the floor. She bid goodbye to a still slightly shocked Harry before following Draco out of the room. The blond's posture was rigid as he walked in front of her; she could tell he wasn't pleased that she'd been laughing at him, and in front of Harry too. In her defence, she'd been half-asleep at the time and shocked by her rude awakening.

It wasn't until they were alone in the elevator that Hermione noticed how much of Malfoy's skin was showing through under his shredded clothes. Of course, upon noticing this, she wasn't able to just _un_-see it, and she also wasn't able to look away for some strange reason. She must be more sleep deprived than she'd thought.

Memories of the kiss they'd shared pushed themselves to the forefront of her mind, reminding her of how much she had enjoyed having him invading her personal space in completely unprofessional ways. She had confidently misplaced the ending of that memory – where he'd shoved her to the floor with no regard for her safety and then didn't even notice when she'd fled the room. Her mind was focused on the physical aspects alone, mainly what a wonderful reaction Malfoy had elicited from her body and how easy it would be to close the small distance between them and feel that again.

She was on the verge of stepping closer to him when she realized what was happening and leaned back against the wall, grabbing onto the bar behind her with both hands to keep her anchored where she was. Keeping her body in place was one thing, but stopping her eyes from stealing glances at her appealing partner was something entirely different – and impossible.

So focused was she on _not _staring at those enticing little glimpses of Malfoy that she didn't notice him watching her out of the corners of his eyes with the same hunger that she was showing for him. Sometime during her little nap in Harry's office, her skirt had rumpled up around her hips to reveal much more leg than was decent in the office, and her blouse had been tugged down to show more cleavage than she usually displayed. And _Merlin, _didn't she realize that holding her hands behind her back like that made her shirt pull tight against her chest? She had been so busy being distracted by Malfoy's almost indecent outfit that her own had escaped her attention.

Tension continued to build in the enclosed space of the elevator until it desperately needed to be broken before something that would be very inappropriate for work happened. Besides this, Hermione knew that they'd come to regret it.

"Do you think shagging will get us over this bloody tension?" Draco asked idly.

Hermione jumped at his voice, it sounded unnaturally loud after their prolonged silence. Had the elevator rides at the Ministry always been so _long_? She was going to have to talk to someone about reducing them.

When she realized what it was he'd asked, her cheeks immediately flushed with embarrassment at having been caught removing the remains of his clothes with her eyes. The worst part of the entire situation was that there had been a split second there where she had actually allowed herself to consider his offer. Despite his careless tone, she knew it was a serious offer.

Viciously, she reminded herself of the way he'd treated her just yesterday after their little kiss. He was only using her to make himself feel better after his disastrous date and the sex dry spell that he'd been forced into while living with her. Hermione didn't understand why he was willing to risk their successful partnership with something so stupid, but she'd already established that he didn't respect her, so she supposed that it wasn't such a surprise.

"What did you learn about the poachers?" she asked, hiding herself behind her mask of professionalism.

Draco gave her a hard look, knowing exactly what it was that she was doing, but he shrugged it off and obliged her offer for an alternative way to break the tension. "I met the leader of the organization today. It's Kate."

"That really petite, slightly insane, and really scary woman who ran the magic carpet tour groups?" Kate had made them dance under the stars and flown them around on a magic carpet, that kind of behaviour wasn't exactly diabolical.

He nodded to confirm it was that Kate. "Apparently she killed the real owners and was running the tour one last time to make sure that there wasn't another sphinx. She decided to make some extra money while she did it."

"That's so..._twisted_," Hermione muttered, picturing all of those happy old couples dancing away while not even knowing that they were in the presence of a murdering, magical creature abusing, criminal of a woman.

"I know," Draco grumbled, "We shouldn't have let her keep our money when the sphinx didn't show."


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15**

**A/N: Hello readers! I've been knitting hats. Also, I've written a threeshot that you might like. It's called Deadly Nightshade and the first chapter is posted. If you haven't already, I recommend that you take a look at it.**

**Also, thanks to everyone who reviewed and to Irianaceleste for betaing!**

**~Frosty**

"Where's the pest?" Draco asked once they were back in Hermione's living room and he had found a change of clothes. Earl had been riding with him, but he seemed to have lost track of him sometime after he got back to the Ministry.

Free from the elevator and the thick sexual tension, they were able to push aside their slight discomfort and interact normally once more. This didn't mean that either of them had forgotten their discomfort and what had very nearly happened while they were still at the Ministry, but they had more important matters at hand.

"I haven't seen Earl in a while," Hermione said. She wasn't really sure where the lizard had gone, but she also wasn't concerned. On more than one occasion Earl had demonstrated that he was perfectly capable of taking care of himself. Besides, if he got into trouble, he could always just pop himself away from the danger.

"Let's hope the thing finally buggered off to bother someone else."

Hermione wanted to tell him off for being unreasonable and rude, but she felt that it would be sort of hypocritical of her since she had been thinking the exact same thing. Instead, she flopped down on the sofa, not very rested from her earlier nap. "Tell me everything now that we're away from prying ears."

He joined her, making sure to maintain the distance between them. "After some time drinking in their main warehouse, they brought me to some dragon reserve in Romania. I had a little run-in with a Norwegian Ridgeback, we captured it and a Welsh Green and then got out of there without anyone the wiser."

Why was it that getting the full story out of him was just like pulling teeth? She wanted all the details, and he had summed up his entire night on _two sentences. _The git was going to make her drag the information out of him. Fine then. After working with Draco for so long, she was a practiced hand at doing so. "And how did you find out that Kate is the head of the organization?"

"We had to wait for the brains behind the operation to show up – and she was obviously the brains; most of those men probably wouldn't be able to remove their heads from their arses with a map and diagrams. Kate was the one who came to gather the troops." He smirked a little. "I was commended for being so skillful with the creatures."

Hermione snorted; of _course _he was skilled at handling magical creatures, it was his job and he did it every day!

"They only told me after the fact that they usually lose the new recruits on the first job, whether through death, serious injury, or because they can't handle the strain."

The people who were so horrible to magical creatures also treated humans terribly. What a surprise. Hermione frowned her disapproval; she couldn't wait to take down their entire organization.

It took her almost an hour, but Hermione managed to get the whole story out of him. He'd been introduced to Kate, who hadn't recognised him because he'd been under the same appearance-altering spells as before. After capturing the dragons, the drinking the men had started prior to their expedition continued. Through subtle questioning of his increasingly drunk colleagues, Draco had learned everything they needed to take down the organization. It was a wonder that Kate had managed such a profitable business when her security was so lax.

"We have to tell Harry about this." Her next sentence was interrupted by a huge yawn. "We need a team of Aurors to take it down."

"Granger, I've been through hell tonight and nothing in the world is going to make me do any more work today. I'm going home and going to bed and you should do the same."

Hermione wasn't exactly sure why she was hurt since Malfoy had only been staying with her out of some misguided desire to keep her safe from Earl, but she was. The feeling lodged in her chest felt dangerously similar to abandonment - which was absurd. Malfoy was abrasive, arrogant, and frequently downright rude... Yet she found herself saddened by the idea of him leaving. Even after such a short stay, she'd become used to his presence in her home.

Ignoring all of the irritating impulses pushing her to ask him to stay, she nodded in agreement. It would be inconsiderate to ask him to sleep on the uncomfortable sofa for another night just because she was feeling lonely. "I'll see you at work in the morning," she said, putting deliberate emphasis on the morning.

He gave her a half grin, misinterpreting her melancholy. "Don't worry, Granger, I wouldn't make you wait to save the little fuzzies. You're liable to go rushing in there on your own and I just know Potter would make a nuisance of himself trying to blame me for it."

* * *

Knowing that they needed Auror support if they were going to orchestrate a successful sting, Hermione reported to Harry's office practically at the break of dawn, eager to get started. Unfortunately, her friend wasn't there. His office was in a worrying disarray that made Hermione briefly wonder if he'd been attacked. That thought was quickly dismissed; there was no possible way for someone as well known as Harry Potter to be attacked at the Ministry and no one to have heard about it. Something so scandalous would be all over the papers in a matter of minutes.

Resigned to waiting, Hermione went to get a coffee. The poor girl at the coffee cart seemed to have developed something of a nervous twitch. When Hermione came up behind her and cleared her throat to get the girl's attention, the poor thing nearly scalded herself on a coffee pot because she whipped around so fast. Hermione was going to have to have some words with her partner. There was no doubt in her mind that the girl's newfound anxiety problem was Draco's fault.

Apparently the phrase "speak of the devil and he shall appear" applied to thoughts as well. Just as Hermione was accepting her coffee from the coffee girl, Draco strolled up behind Hermione, waiting for her to step out of the way so he could order.

The change in the coffee cart girl was instant and severe. What had been a jumpy nervousness before suddenly morphed into a trembling fear as she cowered away from Malfoy as if she expected him to lunge over the counter and grab her at any moment.

Merlin, Hermione hoped he hadn't been lunging over counters and grabbing innocent employees. Unfortunately, she knew him well and wasn't willing to completely rule out this possibility.

"He'll have a black coffee with three sugars," Hermione said quickly, shoving Malfoy to the side a little. He was bound to be in a foul mood because of the early hour and Hermione was genuinely worried that the coffee girl was going to have a nervous breakdown. Hermione just didn't have the time to hunt down a calming draught after sitting with the girl and making her breathe into a paper bag. Better to stop that particular series of problems before they even became an issue.

The entire time the shaking girl made coffee Draco glowered, alternating between Hermione and the "beverage slave". He even glowered at Hermione over the rim of his (properly made) coffee as they walked to Harry's office. Luckily, Draco seemed content to express his hostility with only his eyes, choosing not to start his complaining.

Harry _still _wasn't in his office, so they seated themselves, Hermione in one of the chairs allotted for guests, and Malfoy behind the desk with his feet resting on what was probably important paperwork. He ignored Hermione's admonishing glance and continued to sip his coffee.

"You made me get here early so we could wait for bloody Potter to get his pansy ass out of bed and drag himself to the office?" Malfoy demanded ten minutes later when his coffee was finished and Harry still hadn't made an appearance. His patience had disappeared along with the last drops of his coffee.

Draco glanced at Hermione before starting to open the drawers in the desk. There were a whole bunch of papers, a variety of inks, some official seals, and one vaguely provocative picture of the She-Weasel that gave him pause and then caused him to shudder in horror – Weasleys were closer to rodents than people. Being attracted to her was practically _bestiality_. It wasn't surprising in Potter, but Draco refused to allow it to fester within himself. Other than that, there was nothing worth mentioning inside the desk and Draco was bored again.

He reached into his robes, pulled out a flask and sipped it casually, waiting for his partner to notice. It was only a matter of time before she yelled at him.

She didn't disappoint.

"What is that?" Hermione snapped before he'd even managed to swallow the liquid.

"Relax, Granger. It's just a Pepperup Potion. I didn't get much sleep last night between getting in late and being here early."

Wordlessly, she held out her hand for the flask. Her partner smirked at her as she took a gulp of the sunny liquid. She had a feeling that she was going to need the extra alertness just as much as Malfoy.

Of course, the moment Hermione pulled the flask from her lips was when Harry stumbled into his office, looking frazzled. His heavily bagged eyes went from the flask to his friend and then widened.

"Pepperup Potion," Hermione explained as steam flowed from her ears. She handed the flask back over to Draco while indicating for him to give Harry the desk chair. Of course, Malfoy merely pocketed the flask and continued to occupy the chair. It was a good thing that Harry was too occupied with other things to notice the blond's rudeness, since Hermione was too impatient to deal with their childishness.

"I for one think some generous libations in the morning really set a jolly tone for the rest of the day," Earl said, suddenly poking his head out of Harry's abnormally messy hair.

"That's because you've never worked a day in your life," Hermione said. Judging by Harry's appearance, she was willing to bet that the mystery as to where Earl had spent the night was solved. Earl had that affect on people.

Looking irritated, Harry plucked the lizard from his hair and tossed him to Hermione. Earl didn't mind the careless treatment in the least; he curled into a ball and did a flip in the air, landing somewhat gracefully on the brunette's outstretched palm.

"You left him here last night. I found him curled up and sleeping in one of my desk drawers as I was leaving."

Earl puffed himself up a little and tried to look stern. "I don't appreciate being forgotten like that, like I'm some kind of nuisance that you just can't wait to be rid of."

"That's too bad, because you are," Draco drawled.

Harry nodded. "For once, I'm actually in agreement with Malfoy."

"Can we please focus on what's important here?" Hermione said impatiently. In the long run, it mattered _very _little that Earl had been forgotten in Harry's office and had stayed the night with him. In fact, it mattered very little short term.

"What is it, Hermione?" Harry tried to take the seat behind his desk and only just seemed to notice that it was already occupied.

"Malfoy," Hermione snapped, at her most stern, "We've wasted enough time. Give him his seat."

To Harry's surprise, Malfoy actually listened and came around the desk, taking the other empty seat beside Hermione. Maybe he did have some professionalism in him buried _very _deeply below all of his sarcasm and insulting nature.

Once Harry was properly installed in his own chair, Hermione quickly outlined what Malfoy had learned over night.

"We need to stop them before they abduct even more magical creatures," she finished, looking slightly more relaxed without the information she'd just shared weighing on her mind. She was confident that Harry would be able to lend her the assistance she needed and the whole issue would soon be resolved. That's what Harry did best; right wrongs.

Harry, having listened to the entire story solemn-faced nodded his agreement. "We do need to stop them." He hesitated, and Hermione sensed that there was a big 'but' coming. "Hermione, I'm surprised I have to tell you this, but we need to stop and think things through."

"You know Granger," Malfoy said, "Always losing her head when it comes to the violation of creature's rights."

He received a nasty glare from his partner for speaking about her like she wasn't there. The glare only intensified when Harry nodded his agreement. Hermione pursed her lips; her life's goal was to make herself a voice for the helpless. She didn't understand why everyone had to poke fun at her about it.

"I'll assemble a team and brief them, but we need to be prepared for this," Harry said, looking at her sympathetically. "Even then, we won't be able to actually put the sting into action for a few days, possibly weeks. We want to get all of the people behind this thing."

* * *

"I should have known better than to go to an Auror for a problem involving magical creatures!" Hermione ranted to her salad. Malfoy, on the other side of the lunch table, certainly wasn't listening to her. Draco had long ago learned to tune her out when she really got into her ranting. Granger just wanted someone to sit there and listen – or at least do a reasonable job of pretending to listen – as she ranted out her frustrations at them. She wasn't even all that upset with Harry, just frustrated that those poor creatures were going to have to remain under the care of such cruel people.

Bored and finished with his meal, Draco had taken to staring around the restaurant at the other diners. He normally ate faster than her, but Hermione talked when she should have been chewing and just prolonged their dining experience. Draco just didn't have the patience to sit there and listen to her natter on. An evil idea occurred to him as their waiter approached them. Granger would be upset with him, but he didn't particularly care at the moment. He was taking a mental health break from his partner.

Looking up from viscously spearing a tomato, Hermione was startled to see that Malfoy was no longer the one sharing lunch with her, but instead it was their waiter. The poor young man had the same wide-eyed, twitchy look that the coffee cart girl often wore.

"When did you get here?" she asked, bewildered.

"The angry blond man you were dining with just grabbed me when I passed by and shoved me into this chair. He gave me quite a tip to sit here until you stopped talking."

Draco was going to singlehandedly force every magical worker in the food service industry into therapy, or at the very least keep the makers of Calming Draught in business. Maybe he held some shares in the company.

Irritated and embarrassed, she sent him back to work and then quickly finished her salad. At least Draco had had the decency to pay the bill before running out on her. She suspected this was because his mother would kill him if it got back to her that he'd left a woman with the bill. It was an outdated and slightly chauvinistic practice, but she was willing to take advantage of it on occasion. Besides, Draco had a lot more money than she did; he could afford to pay for a few of her meals.

Malfoy had actually shoved all of the stuff off of her desk and transfigured it into a cot by the time she found him in her office. The lights were out and he appeared to be sound asleep in his transfigured cot. The git certainly worked fast. She felt no guilt in turning on her office light and waking him.

"You left me with a waiter in the restaurant."

Unsurprisingly, he was completely unapologetic. He even looked a little irritated with her for waking him – or maybe he was just squinting in the sudden light. "You wouldn't stop bitching in circles about things you can't change. You're just upset that Potter was the logical one for once in your life."

"You're sleeping on my desk."

"You're the one who made me wake up early for that pointlessness in Potter's office."

Tired of listing her grievances when he was so completely uncaring, Hermione sat in the desk chair that Malfoy had miraculously not transformed into a blanket or something. Not someone able to spend long periods of time inactive when she had something weighing on her mind, Hermione bounced right back out of her chair again and started gathering the paper that was scattered across the floor. She was going to have to put everything back into the right files and then stack them in order of relevance, just as she liked it.

The light suddenly went out, plunging her office into complete darkness. She heard shuffling, presumably Malfoy putting his wand away after killing the lights.

"Go to sleep, Granger. You're less irritating when you're well rested," he said.

"Sleep is good," Earl agreed from somewhere in the darkness. "Both of you should."

The last thing Hermione registered was a rush of irritation that the lizard could make a suggestion and her body would obey before she collapsed to the floor in an ungraceful heap. She was going to have to reorganize her papers some other time.


	16. Chapter 16

**Chapter 16**

**A/N: Hello readers! To my fellow Canadians: happy Thanksgiving weekend! **

**Thanks so much to everyone who reviewed and to irianaceleste for betaing! **

**I probably had something more I wanted to say, but it's almost time to go to my grandma's for our turkey (or meatless chicken for me) dinner. Anyway! I wanted to get the chapter to you guys before I left, so here it is!**

**~Frosty**

As a general rule, Hermione avoided napping during the day because it left her feeling absolutely horrible once she awoke. It seemed that a forced nap wasn't any different than a willing one with regards to side effects. Her tongue was sticky, there was a sour taste in her mouth, and her head felt like it was being squeezed in a vice. These were normal things for her to feel after a nap, but she was lacking some of the discomfort she'd been expecting. Hermione distinctly remembered crumpling to the floor after Earl had forced her body to sleep, but as far as she could tell, there was no stiffness in her muscles from sleeping in a heap on the floor.

The reason for this quickly became apparent when she opened her eyes. She wasn't on the floor; she was sprawled across Malfoy's transfigured cot. Luckily, her partner wasn't in the cot with her. Instead, he was looming over the cot, not looking very pleased.

"Are you aware that you snuggle in your sleep?" he asked, confirming her suspicions that Earl had placed her in bed with Malfoy once again. Why in the world did the obnoxious reptile fancy himself a matchmaker? He was obviously a bad one, and with the subtlety of a rogue bludger in a china shop.

Still not fully awake, Hermione's mouth worked, but she couldn't think of anything to say. No one had ever looked quite so out of sorts when accusing her of snuggling before. She had a feeling that nothing she could say would improve her partner's foul mood.

"Come with me," Malfoy said, dragging her from the cot and out of her office.

Hermione stumbled groggily in his wake. He'd obviously been awake for long enough to gain his bearings and so had a definite advantage over her. She had a bad feeling that it had been her snuggling that had woken him, which explained his mood. Draco was not a snuggly person.

From under the cot came Earl, eagerly following after them to witness the results of his matchmaking. "Where are we going?"

Draco honestly hadn't had a destination in mind when he dragged Granger from her office. His only intention had been to get as far from the vile newt as possible before he lost his temper and made something explode. Granger was always so touchy when he made things explode.

As Earl scurried after them, a deliciously perfect idea occurred to Draco. He knew just the place that Earl would never follow them. But first...

Draco stopped hauling his partner towards the Apparition point, snatched the lizard off of the floor, and threw the creature back towards the office. Granger probably would have objected to the cruel treatment of magical creatures, even if it _was _Earl, but the bloody thing merely curled into a ball and rolled gracefully to a stop. Frustrated, Draco grabbed his partner and continued on his way.

"Butterfly conservatory," Draco called over his shoulder, satisfied when he heard a yelp behind him.

A moment later they were safely within said conservatory, more surrounded by leafy plants, flowers, and, most importantly: butterflies, hundreds of them in every colour imaginable. Hermione reared her head back as a large, bright red butterfly landed right on her nose.

"You really took us to a butterfly conservatory?" She hadn't been aware that Malfoy knew what a butterfly conservatory _was_, much less had been to one before and paid enough attention that he could Apparate them there. Her partner just didn't seem the type to regularly visit butterflies. They were much too delicate and neither dangerous nor explosive.

"Before you ask, Mother is fond of this place," Draco said, knowing exactly what was running though his partner's mind. "Oh, and Potter left this on your door."

Hermione took the slightly crumpled piece of paper and flattened it out so she could read it.

_Hermione, I couldn't get into your office for some reason. I've contacted a team, there's a briefing tomorrow morning to fill them in on all the details._

_Harry_

She wasn't pleased that they were going to have to do even more waiting before she could actually _do something _about the mistreated magical creatures, but now that she had calmed down, she understood the need for it. Proper planning took time, and if they were going to take down Kate and her criminal organization, then they needed to be prepared for whatever that petite criminal could throw at them.

"You realize that we're still on Ministry time?" she asked. "We've already napped for a good portion of the day. I think we should at least get some work done before quitting."

Draco wasn't the most dedicated to his work, she wouldn't put it past him to pretend that he needed to escape the lizard for his sanity when really he was just constructing elaborate scenarios to make her stop nagging him about files and paperwork. Her eyes narrowed at him suspiciously.

"Relax, Granger. You're probably ahead in your paperwork anyway and people stopped expecting me to turn anything in on time a while ago. Live a little for once."

She huffed in irritation, only then realizing that her fingers were still wrapped around Malfoy's elbow from their Apparition. Neither of them seemed to have noticed. Quickly, she dropped her hand and took a step away.

"Just because I like order and following rules doesn't mean that I can't break them upon occasion. If you recall, I broke several rules during my Hogwarts career."

"And you haven't broken even one since. You've gotten boring in your old age."

"I'm not old," she screeched indignantly. Her maturity level matched her age, there was a _difference_. Hermione had been accused of being old before her time for almost her entire life, and it was a bit of a touchy subject with her.

"Prove it." He indicated a sign posted on the wall asking guests to please not pick the flowers. "Pick a flower."

While she knew she was being manipulated, Hermione just couldn't seem to stop herself from reacting to him and his taunting. Choosing a brilliantly red poppy as her target, she furtively scanned the area before plucking it. She whirled around to face Malfoy and triumphantly waved the flower in front of his pointy nose.

"I can have fun and break rules; you just don't see it very much." Really getting into her rebelliousness and deviation from her usual professional demeanour, Hermione did a little victory twirl, completely missing the small, almost affectionate smile that had appeared on her partner's face. Even under the threat of death he wouldn't tell her, but Draco thought she was completely enchanting on those rare occasions where she really let go and had a little fun. He took the flower from her and stuck it behind her ear. The gesture was somewhat ruined by the condescending smile he adopted.

"That wasn't so hard, now was it?"

Hermione, surprised by Draco's odd gentleness, wasn't sure how to react. Luckily, she was saved from having to reply.

"You shouldn't have picked the flower," a voice said. "Nothing good ever comes from picking a flower."

They both looked around, but there didn't appear to be anyone within sight.

"Hello?" Hermione asked, a little worried that someone had witnessed her little moment of rebellion. No matter what she said, she didn't really want to get in trouble for damaging the conservatory.

"Down here," the voice said.

Perched on a leaf by Draco's shin was a bright red butterfly, practically the same colour as Hermione's new hair decoration.

"Granger, tell me that bloody butterfly isn't talking to me." He shook his leg until the creature fluttered over to Hermione's shoulder, just under her ear where the poppy rested. After all the trouble they'd had from the last talking creature, Draco wasn't sure he had enough patience remaining to handle yet another one. The conservatory was supposed to be an _escape _from infuriating magical creatures, not somewhere to meet _more_.

"I'd appreciate it if you didn't talk like I wasn't here," the butterfly said in her lovely, musical voice. If a flower could have a voice, it would be in the quiet, tinkling tones of the butterfly.

"Ignore him," Hermione told the small creature, "Everyone else does." As her partner muttered obscenities, Hermione brought her hand up to her shoulder to offer it as a perch. She was having trouble twisting her neck to see the butterfly and was starting to get a crick from the strange angle.

When she had the butterfly held up at eye level, Hermione addressed her once more. "Now, why exactly is it such a bad idea to pick flowers?"

It was even harder to tell expression on a butterfly than it was on a lizard, but Hermione got the impression that the butterfly thought the answer should be obvious. "It was in vogue a while ago to become a flower after death. Never pick a flower; you never know who it could be or who it will anger."

"Well, thanks for _that _bloody nonsense," Malfoy snapped. He hated being ignored. "We'll just be on our way now."

"Be nice." With an apologetic look at the butterfly for the rudeness of her partner – she was very used to giving apologetic looks on behalf of her partner – Hermione continued on as if he hadn't spoken. "I'm Hermione and that's Draco."

"Enough with playing nice!" Draco snapped. He jostled Hermione's arm in an attempt to make the butterfly take flight. "We came here to get _away _from interfering little creepy crawlies that talk!"

That certainly caught the butterfly's attention. "You wouldn't happen to have met my husband, would you?"

Draco sneered his distaste; of _course _the annoying butterfly knew Earl, they were obviously perfect for each other. "Small, annoying, likes to put Granger in bed with me, occasionally without our clothes, and has a strange fear of butterflies? Yeah, we've met him."

"Bring me to him."

Hermione and her partner exchanged a look that ended when Draco gave a shrug. She knew he was hoping that reuniting the couple would get Earl out of their hair and back... wherever it was that he belonged.

"What are the odds that we meet both of them?" Draco murmured in a 'why me' tone.

Apparently he wasn't quiet enough. "It's not chance," the butterfly replied, "The fates are bitches and aren't particularly fond of my husband. They've been working on a big confrontation between the two of us for a while now. I'm sure they're hoping I'll leave him."

* * *

There was evil glee in Draco's eyes as he burst into Hermione's office, the red butterfly in tow. He had intended to shelter at the butterfly conservatory for a while, just to escape Earl's irritating personality, but with the promise of reuniting the mysterious lizard with his estranged wife and possibly being rid of Earl permanently, Draco had thought it was a good idea to cut the butterfly viewing a little short. Domestic drama was much more fun, especially when it was as strange as a butterfly and a lizard.

"We're back," Draco called. Anyone who knew him even a little bit was aware that so much excitement in his voice meant the something was about to go very, very bad for someone.

"About time!" Earl was perched on Hermione's desk, reading a letter that was most likely addressed to Hermione and probably something personal. "According to this letter, there's an emergency in South America with those vampiric sparrows that needs your attention immed- WHY DID YOU BRING THE BUTTERFLY?" He tried to shelter himself below the parchment, only peeking out the tip of his nose. "Do you know the risk you're taking?"

The little red butterfly, something that wouldn't normally strike fear into even a child's heart, managed to look quite fearsome then as she rose from Hermione's shoulder and actually dive-bombed the cowering lizard. "Do _you _know what you've put me through?" she shrilled.

Draco watched the odd pair yell at each other with a smirk while Hermione edged closer and gently tugged the letter away from the strange pair while Earl was distracted. Having long ago learned to block out just about anything as she read, she didn't have much difficulty scanning the letter. Her expression had turned quite grim by the time she reached the end.

"We have to go," she murmured to Draco, grabbing his arm and towing him away from her office. Of course, he wasn't very willing to leave, having been on the verge of conjuring popcorn and settling in for the entertainment when she dragged him away.

"What's so important that you have to pull me away from the most interesting thing that's happened in the office since I released that swarm of magical bees in Weaselbee's office."

Hermione stopped her rush to the Apparition point so fast that Malfoy ran into her back and nearly toppled the both of them. "That was _you_? Ron had to go to the hospital after they attacked him! He still gets twitchy whenever any kind of buzzing insect gets anywhere near him."

Trying and failing to suppress the amusement and pride at the memory from showing in his eyes, Malfoy gave up on his attempted denial. "He's Weasel_bee_, I thought he'd appreciate being with his own kind."

Hermione didn't dignify that with a response. She forcefully pushed aside the desire to lecture Malfoy on how completely _irresponsible _it was of him to put something as potentially deadly as magical bees – twice as large, poisonous, and tenacious as normal bees –_inside an enclosed space_. There were more pressing matters at hand, such as the potential extinction of a particularly adorable species of sparrow – their carnivorous diet aside.

* * *

"Why is it that we can go literally months and have absolutely nothing happen in the office, and then all of a sudden we're the only two who can possibly handle any number of immensely important jobs?"

Hermione ignored him, as she had been doing for the last fifteen minutes. There were a lot of other things occupying her time, so she didn't even have to work at it. She'd been climbing trees in search of vampiric sparrow nests. He was just bitter because she was lighter and so was the one up in the treetops while he was left on the ground with the panthers waiting to catch her if she fell – something that happened rarely, despite her slight shaking from her fear of heights.

"Did you find anything yet?" he persisted only a few minutes later. "I'm almost certain there's some kind of mutated mosquito feeding on me right now."

"Then use the insect repelling spell," she hissed, finally fed up with him and his complaints. Sometimes she didn't understand why Malfoy had gotten involved in a profession that required so much time outdoors, then she would see him singlehandedly behead multiple vampires and she'd remember; despite his complaints, he was actually quite good at what he did.

"You know my repelling spells never work very well, I'm just too attractive."

"Or the spell wears itself out trying to repel your irritating personality."

Bickering finished for the moment, both of them went back to the respective tasks.

For some reason, heights bothered Hermione less when she was in a tree. If the boughs were still firmly anchored to the ground rather than floating through the air in broom form she was much more comfortable. Unfortunately, this did not mean that she was happy way up in a tree. While she trusted Malfoy with her life, he was rather distracted by insects and random sounds he claimed to hear. She would prefer that the person who literally held her safety in his hands wasn't so distracted.

A cheeping sound drew her attention to the branch just above her head. It was rather dark in the forest, the sun having set a few hours ago, so the hundreds of glowing red eyes that were suddenly upon her were quite obvious. She'd found the flock.

Hermione held perfectly still, hoping not to incite the little birds to swarm her as they tried to drink all of her blood. This type of thing wasn't normal for the birds, but they'd done it to a cow – hence the concern of the local villages - and a human wasn't all that different than a cow.

"What's wrong with you, little birds?" she asked softly to distract them from her movements as she withdrew her wand. They were too still. The only time that many small creatures were completely still was when they were dead or when they were about to attack something – or _someone_.

Hermione was glad that she'd thought to cast a spell making her skin impervious to the razor sharp little pricks of the elongated spikes that hung down on either side of each sparrow's beak. The spell was small scale and wouldn't work if someone tried to impale her, but it was sufficient to stop the birds from draining her, which was _very _comforting at the moment.

"I vote we just let the locals wipe them out for killing that cow," Draco called up to her. It was his way of asking if she could handle the attack.

Seeing that Hermione's attention was elsewhere, the small birds launched themselves at Hermione, a wall of feathers and pointy beaks. She squeaked, but didn't react further. Her protective spell was holding; the worst they could do was pull her hair.

"There's got to be a reason for these little guys attacking that cow." Obstinate as ever, Hermione wasn't going to just let the area's farmers nearly extinct a species just because the birds had killed one cow. Normally, the birds would just sip at the blood a little bit and the animal would walk away unscathed, just a little bit dizzy.

She slid from the branch a little under the onslaught and her heart was immediately in her throat. Luckily, Draco was ready and caught her with a quick levitating spell.

"Granger." His tone was urgent enough that Hermione looked to see what he wanted even as she was being attacked by blood-sucking birds. Malfoy had his back pressed against the tree trunk as a creature with leathery, green skin and spines along its back advanced on him. It was a Chupacabra. "I think I know what's got the birds so defensive."

"Those aren't supposed to be this far south," Hermione said absently.

"_That's _what you choose to focus on right now?" Draco was not pleased that Hermione was focusing on the facts instead of jumping into action.


	17. Chapter 17

**Chapter 17**

**A/N: Hello readers! I've fallen horribly behind in answering the emails I have waiting for me in my inbox, and I only anticipate getting busier. BUT here's a chapter, and you'd way rather have another one of these than an answered review, right?**

**Thanks so much to everyone who reviewed and to irianaceleste for betaing!**

**Also! I put covers on all of my stories. Did you see? DID YOU!?**

**~Frosty**

"Next time something is advancing towards me with the obvious intent to kill, I suggest _doing something about it_."

Hermione rolled her eyes, but not before turning her head so that he couldn't see it. Malfoy was a little irate because she had been forced to immobilize the little birds harmlessly attacking her before she came to her partner's aid. In her defence, the Chupacabra had been advancing towards Draco very slowly, and she'd had plenty of time to cast a shield before it would have tried to lunge at him. Malfoy was just being touchy because he hadn't been able to do this for himself because his wand was busy keeping her from falling out of the tree.

"If you'll recall, I _did _do something. I conjured a cage and caught the thing." They had carried the creature back to the owners of the deceased bovine and proved that it hadn't been the vampiric sparrows that had killed the cow. This done, they then brought the Chupacabra back to the Ministry with them. All was well once more with the little sparrows.

Reaching the doorway to Hermione's office, both Hermione and Draco paused, their bickering forgotten. The room was in shambles, papers scattered everywhere, somehow the curtains had been torn from the small window, and one of the chairs was missing two legs. Everyone in her hallway seemed to be poking their heads out of their own offices, trying to appear nonchalant while shamelessly watching Hermione for her reaction.

"What happened here?" Hermione demanded. While she was normally a nice person, the entire office knew who she was and not to trifle with her when she started to make demands. It probably helped that Malfoy was at her back, giving the room his best intimidating stare, but she preferred to think that it was all her.

"It... sounded like someone was being attacked," said a woman in a pencil skirt and matching jacket. Hermione hadn't spoken a word to her before, but if she were to hazard a guess, she'd say that the poor woman's voice probably wasn't normally so high-pitched and scared.

"With a dick," someone muttered from the other side of the hall. There were many snorts of amusement and a few nods of agreement from the brave few among her coworkers.

Hermione and her partner shared a look before carefully entering the office. Last to enter, Draco made sure to shut the door against the many prying eyes.

"I don't even want to know how they worked the shagging thing when one of them is a butterfly and the other's a lizard." A shudder of revulsion went down Malfoy's spine and he literally shook with horror until it had passed.

There was a bleeding heart plant growing on Hermione's desk. It had just popped up while she'd been gone, something that was strange even for the Ministry. She didn't want to even contemplate what had caused it to grow there. After casting the strongest cleansing spells she knew over her entire office, she was going to forget the entire incident if she could.

"I think," Hermione said carefully, eyeing the plant with a disturbed frown, "That I know who Earl and his wife really are."

"Care to inform the rest of us?"

She shook her head. "It's so impossible that I don't think you'd believe me. It's probably best that you didn't know anyway, you'd overreact."

Draco thought about nagging her until she told him, but she had a stubborn streak even bigger than his and he'd had a long day. "I'm going home, Granger," he said. She opened her mouth, but he interrupted, already knowing what she was going to say, "I won't forget to be here for that briefing tomorrow morning."

* * *

The morning of the sting dawned dark and rainy. Most of the country was in the middle of what was quickly approaching record levels of rainfall and the clouds were showing no intentions of letting up.

"Why are you staring at the sky like a chicken waiting to drown?"

Hermione lowered her eyes from the clouds to see that Malfoy was standing in front of her. Both of them were outside in the rain, but shielded from the wetness by cloaks imbibed with powerful water repelling charms. Her partner wasn't wearing the amused expression that would have normally accompanied his teasing comment. Despite his feigned indifference, she had a feeling that he knew exactly had her all twisted up.

"Can't you feel it?" she asked lowly. "Something's on the verge of going horribly wrong. I don't know what it is, but I have a feeling that it's going to be terrible."

"I feel it." His voice was barely a murmur and Hermione wasn't positive that she'd heard him over the pounding rain. Draco didn't like admitting such things out loud, and he certainly didn't want anyone but Hermione to hear. "We can't stop this thing over a feeling. It's ridiculous."

"Sometimes that feeling is the only warning we have to brace ourselves before the universe gives its best to break us."

Instead of answering, Draco shoved her shoulder. Hermione, completely unprepared for the gesture, was left sitting in a muddy puddle, staring up at him in disbelief.

"Stop being all girly and trying to make me talk about feelings. We've got work to do whether we think it's going to go wrong or not."

The plan was simple: Draco would casually enter the place, bringing with him butterbeer laced with a powerful sleeping potion. Once everyone was unconscious, Harry would rush in with a team of Aurors to apprehend the criminals, and Hermione, accompanied by a few people from her department, would go ahead and release the animal captives. There were teams waiting to handle the magical creatures outside the building.

As Hermione used her wand to clean off the mud that clung to her despite the water repelling charms on her cloak, Draco headed over to Harry, who handed him the spiked butterbeers. Without so much as a backwards glance, the blond entered the building. He was like that, always forward without looking back.

With Ron at his side, Harry drifted over to Hermione while other Aurors were scattered across the hilltop on the North side of the building where Kate's operation was centered. There were enough trees that, should someone glance out a window, none of the Aurors would be seen. For Malfoy's safety and for the success of their plan, they needed to stay hidden until it was time to strike.

"This is kind of like old times," Harry observed as he came up behind his friend. It warmed Hermione slightly that Harry was now able to talk about the war without the sadness that had tinged his tone for the longest time.

Ron interrupted her answer with a bitter, "Except it would have never been _Malfoy _going in there before. We would have sent someone we trusted."

"Malfoy is my _partner_," Hermione snapped. "He's saved my life more times than I could count, just like I've saved his on several occasions. He _is _trusted." She'd had quite enough of Ron's childishness regarding her partner.

Angry blue eyes turned to Harry, pleading with his friend to talk some reason into Hermione while still trying to glare daggers in Malfoy's general direction. Harry put his hands in the air. "She's not lying. We've both seen that he's changed since Hogwarts."

Smiling, Hermione gave Harry a quick hug of thanks. "You don't know how much it means to me that you trust my judgement."

He patted her head. "I still think he's a miserable sod though."

"That's because he is," she said with a small smile.

Ron stewed in silence as they waited for the signal. Of all the things he'd learned during the war, Hermione was most grateful that he now knew when he needed to keep his anger silent.

Just before Malfoy gave the signal for the Aurors to enter the building, Hermione caught sight of a child-like figure fleeing the building. She was immediately suspicious, but her job was the magical creature aspect of their operation and she was needed to lead that portion. The only thing she could do was point out the figure to Ron, who nodded and broke off from the Aurors, who were just about to rush into the building, to instead follow the figure.

The retreating figure was pushed from her mind as she followed the Aurors into the building and found that it was on fire.

"Follow me," she ordered the wide-eyed young people trailing after her. The only volunteers she'd received to go on this possibly dangerous mission had been a few of the interns and newest staff members in her department. Everyone else had been content to continue on with their boring paperwork in the same way they had for years. Sometimes the complacency of people really got under Hermione's skin.

The young people had been hoping for a little excitement, possibly an autograph from Harry Potter out of this little foray out of the office, but what they received was so much worse. Hermione's face turned grim as they reached the area where the magical creatures were kept and she discovered that the fire seemed to have originated in this part of the building. Most of the creatures were already dead.

Conjuring a bubble head charm, Hermione pushed on, determined to find some survivors. The smoke was thick and blocked most of the visibility and the heat was very near unbearable as she continued deeper into the burning building. If there was even one little pygmy puff left alive, then she was going to save it.

Over the crackling roar of the fire and the yelling of the interns who hadn't followed her into the blaze, Hermione could just hear a shuffling, thumping sound somewhere in front of her. It was the two dragons that had been taken recently. Semi flame-resistant, they were still alive and she had to get them out of there. The whites of their eyes were showing their panic and Hermione knew that her job wasn't going to be an easy one, the problem only worsened by the need for expedience.

She blasted a hole in the ceiling first so that the dragons could escape. Smoke started spiralling out of the hole, but the heat increased as the fire hungrily drank in the new oxygen. The heavy rain wasn't affecting anything. There was just too little water and too much fire. Grimly, she steadied herself before casting a two quick blasting spells to release the dragons from their cages. Immediately, their wings surged and they were following the smoke up and out into the air.

Her bubble charm was meant for use underwater, so the heat of the fire was starting to make the magic ripple like a distant mirage. She only had a few minutes until the charm burned off and she was left to suffocate on the thick smoke. Hermione used that time to quickly search the rest of the room, only finding the charred and burning bodies of the rest of the creatures she'd been trying to free. The most heart-wrenching one for Hermione was dead centaur that looked suspiciously like Isolde.

"Over there!" she heard very faintly over the fire. There were still a few more cages to check, so Hermione continued on, just in case there was something still left alive.

"Granger, what the hell is wrong with you?" She heard him before she saw him, and when she did catch sight of him, he was furious. Malfoy didn't even wait for her to respond, he just grabbed her, threw her over his shoulder and ran out of there.

"I told you I could find her," Earl said from the shoulder that wasn't supporting Hermione's weight. They got out just as Hermione's bubble charm disintegrated. It didn't really matter at that point, since the constant bumping against Malfoy's shoulder as he ran had knocked the wind out of her.

Malfoy brought her out of a back exit, so there weren't any Aurors in sight when he finally set her on her feet. His hands lingered on her arms long enough for Hermione to feel how tight he was gripping her. Malfoy was absolutely furious with her. When he spoke, his voice was so icy that it practically gave her chills. "If you wanted to kill yourself, there are many ways that would cost me a lot less trouble."

Hermione hugged herself and hung her head, the rain soaking her hair and making her slouch further under the added weight. The fire had been so hot that her skin felt stretched and tender, but the rain left her shivering with cold. She could practically see her breath.

Her partner's yelling continued, but she no longer heard his words. She knew that he'd just been worried about her and was having trouble expressing that.

It was supposed to be a simple sting. Hermione didn't know the whole story and was unable to pinpoint the exact time that everything had gone wrong, but it had. Spectacularly. All those helpless animals burned alive in their cages, scared and alone. So many innocent deaths brought horrible memories of the war back to the forefront of her mind. Without hearing anything he was shouting at her, Hermione watched Malfoy's yelling, numb from the cold and everything that had happened.

Her lower lip started to tremble.

Just as Harry rounded the corner of the building, doing a perimeter check for any other criminals, Hermione launched herself at her still ranting partner and burst into tears. Unsurprisingly, Malfoy was bewildered, then horrified. Arms held up and away from the distraught female, he looked to his enemy for assistance but found none.

Harry had frozen, slightly worried, when Hermione moved closer to the obviously angry blond. He wasn't sure if he could trust Malfoy not to hurt Hermione when the blond was obviously in such a foul mood. Apparently Hermione had shared none of those concerns – and she'd been right. Malfoy's rant had abruptly cut off and he'd given Harry an almost pleading look. It was disturbing to see Hermione so close to Malfoy, but it was so worth it to watch the usually unruffled blond get a little frantic.

Hoping that the water-repelling charms on his clothing also worked for snot, Draco awkwardly patted the crying woman on the back "There, there, Granger," he said. The comforting effect on the words was greatly lessened by the way his voice up at the end, making his words into a question.

"Hug me, you git," she sniffled.

He obliged, but he wasn't happy with it, and he certainly wasn't comfortable with the situation. "Come on, Granger. Remember when we both repressed our emotions and never spoke of anything deeper than the weather? That worked for us, didn't it?"

Her response was to press her nose against his neck, trying to hide from the world. Draco tensed all over at the contact. He was not a casual touching type person, and he was _never _that type of person with Granger. She was his partner, someone he respected – though he wouldn't admit it – and as such, off limits for any of the things for which he usually used women.

"Ah, love," Earl sighed. "If I'd had my arrows, you two would have reached this point a long time ago."

Hermione took a deep breath that tickled her partner's neck and made him tense up all over again before pulling away from his steadying embrace and surprisingly calming scent. Smoke, rain, and safety; that was what Draco smelled like at the moment.

Earl's comment had jolter her out of her clingy state and jolted her into anger. She was verging on hysterics and probably lashing out; she knew this. Still, she didn't stop herself. It upset her that Earl could appear so unaffected by all of the innocent creatures that had been killed. "If you're who I think you are, why didn't you help with this?"

"Hermione," Harry said, trying to calm her. He hadn't spent much time with Earl, but he knew enough to understand how unwise it would be to anger the lizard.

"Don't 'Hermione' me! I know who he is and he had the power to fix all of this, yet he just disappeared!"

Malfoy and Harry exchanged a look, both of them at a loss. Together, they knew her better than anyone else, but neither of them knew how to comfort her.

Earl tilted his head to the side and regarded Hermione closely, his usually cheerful attitude dropped suddenly and replaced with something almost menacing. "Little girl, I don't care what you think you know. You will keep it to yourself or find out what I'm _really _capable of."

Her cheeks, reddened from her crying, paled slightly at the threat. Malfoy was confused, trying to figure out what exactly the little lizard _was _to strike such fear in his partner. He wasn't sure he wanted to know. He _was _sure that it was very likely he would be forced to deal with Earl's true identity in the very near future. Trouble gravitated towards the Golden Trio, and graduating didn't change that for his partner and her idiot friends.

Earl snapped back to cheery before anyone could even comment, "Besides, it's been a _long _time since I've last seen my wife. That's entirely too long to be celibate, and I may have neglected my duties a little to get _reacquainted_. Knowing who I am, you understand, right?"

She didn't. Not even a little bit. Hermione knew that immortality could lead to a lack of respect for life, but sex was _never _a good enough reason to let those magical creatures die. She also knew that Earl's fondness for her probably wouldn't stop him from making her miserable or even killing her if she annoyed him too much. Her lips pressed together and she took a deep breath to stop herself from yelling at him, instead choosing to remain civil and ask something that had been weighing on her mind.

"You're not here by accident, are you?" Her tone made it clear that she already knew the answer.

A roar echoed through the air, loud enough that it was heard over the heavy rain and crackling fire. Hermione hadn't really expected an answer to her question, so she asked another when Earl remained silent, regarding her with those depthless eyes of his. "Are the dragons going to be okay?"

"The dragon Weasley was here with the teams present to handle the rescued animals," Draco said, pausing in his words at his partner's obvious flinch. When he was sure that she wasn't going to throw herself at him in tears again, he continued. "He managed to subdue the raging dragons you released."

Hermione sighed in relief. At least she had been able to do _some _good. "His name is Charlie."

"Weasleys breed like rabbits. You can't possibly expect me to remember all of their names."

Harry looked offended and ready to jump down Malfoy's throat for that comment, but Hermione stopped him with a look. She knew that Draco was just trying to cheer her up a little. It was strange and a little bit twisted, but she usually did feel better after a good shouting match with her partner.

"Let's get back to the Ministry," she said, mostly to distract Harry, who was still glaring at Draco. "We all have lots of paperwork that needs our attention."


	18. Chapter 18

**Chapter 18**

**A/N: Okay! For those of you who have been going crazy trying to figure out the mysterious Earl, that should all be cleared up by the end of this chapter. Also, I know the whole dead magical creatures thing was horrible, so a good chunk of this chapter is cuteness to make both me and Hermione feel better after all the sad. I actually giggled while writing it, it's that fluffy (literally!). You've been warned.**

**As always, thanks to everyone who reviewed and to irianaceleste for betaing!**

**~Frosty**

A week later, things were almost back to normal. The hunt for Kate continued, but it was a case that belonged to the Aurors since it no longer concerned magical creatures. Hermione still felt a pang of sadness every time she thought of all of those dead creatures that could have been saved had she been just a little faster. She didn't, however, let this stop her from doing her work. There were too many other creatures in need of her assistance for her to allow herself to shut down over one – admittedly large – failure. In her own humble opinion, she was even doing a decent job of hiding her despondence. It helped, she supposed, that she spent most of her time alone.

It was just her and her paperwork in her office, since her partner seemed to be avoiding her. She could only assume this was because of the slightly awkward hugging incident. In her defence, she had been overcome with emotion and just needed a hug, not thinking about how much Malfoy hated such displays. The situation had only been worsened by Harry's presence, she was sure.

Hermione would have confronted Draco on his avoidance had she not suspected that he needed the time away from her. Once back at the Ministry after the whole warehouse fire incident, he had gripped her elbow in an unconscious gesture to reassure himself that she was really there. Noticing what he'd done only when Hermione glanced down at his hand in askance, he had whipped himself away from her and practically fled the office, leaving Hermione to gather herself and find her way home.

When she'd just let him leave, she hadn't thought that it would take him so long to come to terms with the fact that he was capable of concern just like the rest of the plebeians. Hermione was hoping that he'd get over it soon.

Earl, while still hanging around, only dropped in occasionally as he was "busy" with his wife. She shuddered at just the thought and went back to doing her paperwork – there was practically a mountain of it.

Harry slipped into her office so quietly that she didn't hear him, and so jumped when he spoke. "Since when do you keep flowers in your office?"

When Hermione had recovered herself from the shock and righted the pile of forms that she'd upturned, she glared at her friend. He had purposely made no sound so that he could startle her. "Malfoy insisted I keep it 'as a symbol that I'm not the stuck up swot everything thinks I am'."

The flower she'd picked in the butterfly conservatory had been placed under a stasis spell and set in a vase to perch on the corner of her desk. It was a little irritating to have that much less space for her mountain of paperwork, but Hermione liked the reminder that she wasn't just another colourless drone working away on paperwork day after day. Taking up more space than the flower was the bleeding heart plant that just wouldn't go away no matter how many times she cut or burned or banished it away. It seemed that unless she wanted to replace her desk, she was stuck with it growing there.

Harry shook his head, but looked amused. "I'm not even going to ask, I don't want to have to arrest you for having a flower."

"What is it you wanted, Harry?"

"I know how you hate giving up on a project, but I'm here to warn you not to go after Kate. We've been looking into her, and she's more dangerous than we'd thought. I don't want you getting hurt."

Hermione did her best to school her face into an innocent expression, trying to subtly toe a pile of papers that rested by her foot further under her desk. Just because the Aurors were already on the job didn't mean that she couldn't at least look into Kate. The woman needed to be found and was proving as elusive as a fire salamander in a hot spring.

She only realized that her reaction had been all wrong when she caught sight of Harry's expression of amused frustration. Blast! She should have been yelling at him for hunting her down and warning her to stay out of trouble as if she were an errant child, not pretending to be innocent.

He shook his head at her and sighed, knowing that his warning had fallen on deaf ears. "Just don't go rushing into anything that could get you killed."

Her eyes rolled towards the ceiling. "Since when do I ever rush into things without thinking them through first?"

Harry stood to leave. "At least take Malfoy with you if you're doing anything dangerous, he's oddly competent when it comes to saving your butt." He paused and gave her a significant look, "And we never had this conversation, I don't want to have to arrest you." His eyes moved towards the stack of paper under her desk, clearly saying that she hadn't been as subtle as she'd hoped.

"Of course."

* * *

Malfoy didn't come into work until almost three in the afternoon, once again leaving Hermione alone in her office for most of the day.

"I've finished my paperwork for you, Granger."

Hermione ran skeptical eyes over the papers he'd handed her. The writing was very near illegible, and she knew for a fact that Malfoy's penmanship was damn near perfect – his mother's insistence, she was sure.

"You had Goyle do your paperwork again, haven't you?"

"It's the thought that counts."

It really wasn't. Hermione frowned as she flipped through the stack of papers, her expression only getting grimmer as she read on. Already resigned to doing her partner's paperwork after completing her own, Hermione just set the sheaf of papers he'd just given her to the side, on top of her "to do" pile.

Eyes narrowed, Draco watched her do this, not pleased with the lack of reaction. "I've had enough of this!"

Hermione started at the sudden loudness of his voice and nearly toppled one of her paper piles. "Had enough of what?"

"You've been moping around the office since the fire and I've had enough of it. Sometimes you can't save everyone and you need to deal with that and stop pissing me off." The bad paperwork had been a last ditch effort to restore some normalcy to their routine. Draco was disgusted to note that he even missed her nagging, and avoiding her while hoping the problem would go away obviously wasn't going to work.

Hermione glared, righted the pile that was teetering on the verge of collapse, and went right back to her work. Her partner was just so sensitive. If he didn't have anything nice to say, then she was going to pretend that he hadn't said anything at all.

"Right," he growled, "Come on then."

She had a feeling that he wasn't requesting her presence; he was giving her a chance to save her dignity and walk before he threw her over his shoulder and dragged her out of there. Not really wanting to spend any more time on the tedious paperwork anyway, Hermione willingly followed after him.

* * *

"Are we where I think we are?" she asked excitedly when the Portkey dropped the off in the middle of what appeared to be an average but empty grassy meadow.

His slight sneer was all the answer she needed. Draco hated cute things; they offended his masculine sensibilities or something, so the fact that he'd brought her to the place with the highest cuteness content in all of North America just to cheer her up was quite sweet of him.

Barely restraining an annoying, girly clap of excitement, Hermione pushed her way through the waist high wildflowers and waded to a spot in the middle of the meadow right beside a big rock. She raised a fist and knocked on what appeared to be empty air, but the sound of knuckles hitting wood clearly implied that it was something more.

"They should really change how that works. People look ridiculous knocking on air," Malfoy complained as a door appeared that seemed to just be floating in the air.

Hermione ignored him, too excited about what was on the other side of the door. At first, it looked just like the meadow they had come from, but on closer inspection it proved to be something much more magical. Made difficult to see because of the long flowers and grasses, the entire field was filled with holes that led to a large system of underground burrows.

A brown, twitchy nose poked out of the nearest burrow, and then a large, liquid black eye. Once the creature caught sight of Hermione, its entire furry body came surging out and it rushed to her.

Crouching down, Hermione petted the tiny creature. With the body of a small hare and tiny antlers perched on top of its head, the Jackalope was a strange creature, but not the strangest she'd ever seen. The antlers looked a little out of place, but didn't take away from the overall adorableness of the furry little guy. It nosed at her pockets, hoping for a treat while Hermione smiled and continued to pet it.

One of Hermione's major accomplishments of the previous year had been working with the American Ministry to establish a Jackalope sanctuary in their native habitat. Their population had been dangerously close to extinction before the sanctuary, but it was back up again, as was demonstrated by the wave of the small bodies that rushed towards Hermione once they realized she was safe and, better yet, may have treats.

It was virtually impossible to be despondent when in the presence of such adorable creatures, especially the baby ones with little nubs of antlers and ears that they had yet to grow into. Hermione snuggled the pair of baby Jackalopes that had crawled into her arms. The little successes were really the best part of her job, and she was thankful that Draco had thought to remind her of this fact.

For some reason, all of the Jackalopes seemed to love Hermione. She insisted it was because they knew that she had a hand in saving them, and Malfoy insisted it was because the stupid animals recognised a bleeding heart when they saw one. He was just bitter about the Jacklopes trying to bite his ankles with their surprisingly sharp teeth every time he came too near. Their hostility was probably due to Malfoy's continued insistence that they were just stupid animals, but he refused to listen to reason when Hermione told him this.

At the sound of muttered swearing, Hermione looked over her shoulder to see that Malfoy was backed up against a wall, surrounded by a circle of Jackalopes that were bearing teeth entirely too sharp for herbivores. They had been known, on occasion, to take bites from people. She knew that if anyone would be able to incite the cuddly creatures into a carnivorous feeding frenzy, it would be her partner.

"Come on, Draco, stop being so hostile and they'll like you," she told him, not really succeeding at hiding the laughter in her voice.

"I will not."

Ignoring his protests, Hermione stood, the two baby Jackalopes still cuddled against her chest. Draco cringed away from his partner just as he had from the Jackalopes, and he looked at the baby Jackalope she held out to him as if she'd ripped his liver out and then tried to hand it to him.

With great reluctance, and prompted by a stern look from Hermione, he reached out and accepted the small, wriggling creature. His hands were so much bigger than Hermione's that he didn't even need to close his fingers, his open palm was large enough for the Jackalope to stand on, trembling.

"You have to snuggle it if you want the full effect," Hermione insisted.

Draco's glare was nasty, telling her just what he thought of her suggestions. He didn't snuggle the Jackalope, but he did extend a finger and pet it right between its little antler nubs, lessening the creature's trembling.

* * *

"We will never speak of that trip again."

Hermione rolled her eyes at the statement he'd already repeated so many times it was beginning to lose its meaning. "You just don't want me telling people that you held something cute and it didn't burn you."

The denial was almost out of his mouth when he paused right in front of Hermione's office. "Granger, is there a reason that fog's billowing out from under your door?"

"Not one that I can explain."

They both drew their wands before Hermione slowly pushed open the door, not sure what she could expect on the other side.

After her first few years at Hogwarts, Hermione had developed a certain level of desensitisation to strange and impossible things, but she wasn't sure any person, no matter how accustomed to magic, would just be able to shrug off what she found in her office. A very beautiful woman who glowed a faint white like the moon was scolding Earl. She had a bow slung over her shoulder and a quiver of arrows on her back and looked only seconds away from using them on the lizard. An even more stunning woman with a giant pair of scarlet butterfly wings looked on, hiding a grin behind her hand, her chocolate eyes sparkling with laughter.

"I did you a favour and you leave before you have completed my repayment," the glowing woman was saying as Hermione and Draco looked into the room. "Those magical creatures would not have died in the fire had you been there as you should have been." She didn't raise her voice, but her admonishment was not lacking in scathing reproach just because of the low volume.

Some of the happy glow that Hermione had accumulated by spending time with the Jackalopes tarnished at the reminder of her failure. She was glad to hear that she wasn't the only one giving Earl a hard time for being irresponsible. Her scolding was being echoed by a goddess, something that would have pleased her if she hadn't been half terrified that she and Draco weren't going to survive this encounter with the deities.

"I'm the god of love," Earl said, not looking the least repentant, "Son of the goddess of all things pleasurable, and I was celibate for damn near a century. What did you expect to happen?"

Draco's eyes widened and he glanced over at his partner to see if she was surprised. There was not even a glimmer of shock on her features. He was going to have to have a talk with her about that once the gods were out of the office.

Some sort of sound must have escaped the blond, because the faintly glowing woman whipped around to face them. "I don't appreciate being watched without my knowledge. I've changed people into stags for that very thing."

Hermione was intimidated, but she had a feeling there were gods in her office because they had need of her, so she felt relatively secure when she said, "But he spied on you while you were bathing in the forest. You're fully clothed and in my office."

There was a moment of silence where Hermione started to worry that maybe she had made a mistake and would have to spend the rest of her life working with magical creatures _as _a magical creature. The goddess regarded Hermione with her head tilted slightly and her eyes narrowed, tapping a finger against her lips in a surprisingly human gesture.

Draco raised his wand in case he needed to defend himself, but a warning look from his partner had him putting it away as she had. Human magic was no good against gods; Earl had shown them that on more than one occasion. The only time their magic had been effective against Earl was when it had been a complete surprise, and it would be too difficult to surprise the gods with an attack from right in front of them. Their wands were essentially useless.

"You, mortal," the goddess said slowly, "Are lucky that I require your assistance. I have turned mortals to stone for less insolence."

"What did you need her for?" Malfoy asked, trying to change the subject. He didn't really want his partner changed to stone. Then who would do all of his paperwork? If he actually handed in the stuff Goyle did, he would have it sent back and be forced to redo it, and then when he refused, he might even lose his job. That couldn't happen; Draco would end up at home with his mother far too often.

The glowing woman, who Hermione knew to be Artemis, goddess of the hunt, actually sneered at Malfoy. She obviously wasn't big on men – or at least Malfoy. Instead of addressing her answer towards Draco, Artemis looked to Hermione once more. "That _woman _who was capturing creatures stole something very important to me, my prized golden doe. You need to get her back. Eros will help you." She disappeared in another swirl of fog before anyone could comment further. Apparently she wasn't used to waiting around to make sure people would obey, or to answer any questions that they may have.

"She's always been a bit of an uptight bitch," Earl – or rather, _Eros_– said. "I've always said she needs to get laid, relax a little. She's wound so tight that she'd have a stress disorder if she wasn't immortal."


	19. Chapter 19

**Chapter 19**

**A/N: Hello readers! New chapter! I have a question for you guys though. I was thinking about posting once a week instead of twice to make the chapters I have edited longer. Would you prefer to have them keep coming twice a week and maybe have to wait a bit for the rest, or for me to just do one a week, but without the possible break? Did that make sense? I hope it did...**

**Thanks for everyone who reviewed! Also thanks to irianaceleste for betaing! **

**(I'm behind on answering reviews again, sorry. They may have to wait until the weekend... I can edit more or answer reviews, and I figured the former was more urgent.)**

**~Frosty**

With the departure of Artemis, Malfoy had grabbed Hermione and literally dragged her to an Apparition point. Somewhat used to this treatment after working with him so long, Hermione just sighed and followed after him.

Hermione was surprised that instead of taking them to Malfoy Manor, or somewhere neutral, he took them to her living room. As soon as they were alone, he broke his angry silence.

"You've known for a while now that we were in the presence of bloody _gods _and you didn't see fit to inform me?" he growled.

"You heard Earl threaten me when I realized who he was! What was I supposed to do?"

"There's a reason people were always on about your intelligence when we were in school. I'm sure you could have found a way to tell me if you'd really put that oversized mind of yours to the task."

Hermione tried to respond, but found that she no longer had a voice. Hands to her unresponsive throat, she looked around for the culprit, recognising a silencing spell when she experienced one.

"That's enough of that," Earl said. He pranced in between Hermione and Draco, followed closely by Psyche, still humanoid with those beautiful butterfly wings of hers. Psyche bent down to pick up the lizard and placed him on her shoulder, so that he was closer to eye level and everyone didn't have to hurt their necks bending down to stare at him. "You two need to be working at your best to find Artemis' precious doe. She doesn't look kindly upon failure and for someone with all the time in the world, her patience is sorely lacking."

Not finished with his tirade, but unable to keep arguing with his partner, Malfoy was forced to seethe in silence, occasionally shooting glares in her direction. His voice had disappeared at the same time as hers, but just like his partner, he was unable to do anything about it. A secretive, nonverbal countercharm had proved ineffective against the magic of the god. They were just going to have to wait until Earl –_Eros_– decided to release them from his spell. It didn't sit well with Draco that he was at the mercy of the psychotic lizard, and judging by his partner's expression, he wasn't alone in feeling this.

"New tactic," Earl declared, ignoring the warning expression Psyche was directing towards him as well as the venomous glares from Draco and Hermione."If I'm no longer trying to hide myself and limit my power usage, I can do this..."

Neither Hermione nor Draco were at all prepared for the wave of lust that had them forgetting their quarrel and launching themselves at each other. Hermione actually jumped, wrapping her legs around his waist as he crashed their lips together. Their embrace was so fierce and desperate it was almost too violent to be categorized as something of amorous intent.

The attack gentled minutely but lost none of the passion as they fell into the rhythm of the kiss. Hermione didn't know which pounding was her frantic heartbeat and what was his. All she knew was that he wasn't allowed to stop kissing her. Her legs tightened around him and she arched her back in an attempt to create some friction where she desperately needed it. Draco groaned quietly in appreciation of her efforts.

"I was getting tired of all the sexual tension anyway," Earl muttered as Draco tottered off to the bedroom with Hermione still wrapped around him.

Psyche was less than pleased. After so much time married to him, she knew her husband was a troublemaker, but she'd become fond of Draco and Hermione in the short time that she'd known them. Having been mortal once, Psyche knew how overwhelming it could be when the gods decided to interfere with lives.

"They only needed the tiniest of pushes to get them going," she admonished, "Yet you've gone and shoved them right off of a cliff."

They both turned to the door at a loud bang that sounded as if a lamp had been knocked to the ground. "That _was _just a little push. What I did only lasted the ten seconds it took to get them over their fight. This is all them."

"I'm not sure if this is going to solve their problems," Psyche said doubtfully. Unlike her husband, she had experienced immortal meddling from the other side and knew better than he that his solutions did not always solve problems as thoroughly as he believed.

Unsurprisingly, Earl refused to believe that he didn't know best. "Don't be ridiculous. An orgasm or two can do wonders for getting over a little tiff. Look at us; you're barely even upset with me about disappearing for so long."

"If you say so..."

* * *

Regret was not the first thing Hermione felt once Draco had drifted off in the bed beside her, and she was left alone with her thoughts. She knew she was going to seriously regret their recent activities in the morning, when her muscles had had enough time to really start aching and she had to get out of bed to go to work, but there was no real remorse for what they had done.

Foremost among her feelings was actually contentment. The tension between them had abated somewhat, leaving Hermione to recognise it for what it had really been: she was immensely attracted to Draco Malfoy, her partner, git extraordinaire. And the sex had been amazing - amazing enough that she wouldn't be opposed to a repeat.

Hermione wasn't pleased with Earl for manipulating them the way he had, but she knew she would probably get over it pretty quickly. After all, meddling was in Earl's nature, and it wasn't like he'd forced them to do something that they would never have done on their own. Hermione didn't feel as if her body had been forced to shag her partner against her will or anything like that. After the initial burst of uncontrollable lust, she'd been pretty much in control of herself, even having the presence of mind to pull Draco away from where he was kissing her shoulder to look him in the eyes and ask him if he was willing to face the possible consequences of what they were about to do. His impatient answer of yes had shown that he still possessed just as much clarity as she did, and his promise that their partnership wouldn't change had abated her concerns somewhat.

She peeked over at the sleeping blond, the sheet barely allowing him modesty and his naked chest on full display. The tugging pull of attraction she felt as she stared warmed her cheeks slightly, and made her groan quietly in annoyance with herself. Despite his promise that their partnership wasn't going to change, they were going to have to figure something out before work the next day, or else the office would suddenly become an incredibly uncomfortable place. _That _was going to be a near impossible task. Getting Malfoy to talk about feelings was like pulling teeth - incredibly stubborn teeth that tried to escape and resorted to hexes if pulled too much.

They really didn't need the complications that their actions could bring with so much at stake. Hermione was familiar with Greek myths, and she knew that the gods did not like to be kept waiting. She was going to have to find out where Kate had hidden the golden doe before Artemis lost her patience and decided to turn them to stone and just hunt for the doe herself.

Draco shifted slightly in his sleep and his hand came to rest possessively on Hermione's stomach. Brave Gryffindor or not, she panicked. That insistent little bit of affection that she'd had for Malfoy for years had turned out to be much bigger than she expected and Hermione wasn't sure if she'd be able to pretend nothing was wrong should he wake up touching her and be repulsed. Even knowing how unlikely this was considering his enthusiasm doing just that only a short time ago, Hermione didn't want to take the chance.

She slipped out from under the sheets, dressed herself, and fled to the Ministry, convincing herself on the way that she was just getting a head start on their renewed search for Kate. Earl and Psyche were – thankfully – no longer anywhere in her home, so she didn't have to experience a walk of shame past them on her way back to the Ministry.

It wasn't long after working hours, and there were always at least a few people staying at the Ministry, so Hermione wasn't completely alone when she appeared in the huge, echoing atrium. She nodded to the security guard and made her way up to her office to once again peruse the files she'd acquired on Kate.

On a piece of parchment, Hermione made note of where Kate's parents lived as well as her last place of residence. She and Malfoy would be checking those locations in the morning. No doubt the Aurors had already done this, but the Aurors didn't know that they were looking for Artemis' golden doe as well as murderer, so they may have missed some clues.

It was hours later that she heard footsteps echoing down the hall outside her office. Hermione had actually dozed off on the book she'd been reading, a small wet spot on the page where her mouth had been resting. She just had time to dry the book with her wand before her office door was shoved open.

Malfoy stood there for a moment glaring at her before coming in and throwing himself in the visitor's chair that he had claimed for his own a long time ago. He didn't say anything yet, so Hermione pretended to be reading her book as he watched her. If he wasn't going to start a confrontation, then she wasn't going to force him to by speaking first.

"It was just sex, Granger. Blame it on the gods if that's what it takes to get back to normal, but I refuse to ruin our working partnership just because we shagged one time."

She pretended to finish the sentence she'd been "reading" before looking up at him. For one of the few times in her life, Hermione was completely at a loss for words, unable to articulate what exactly had dragged her out of her comfortable bed and led her to flee to the Ministry. Through she would never admit it; she was also a little hurt. Somewhere deeply hidden inside of her, she'd been hoping that maybe it hadn't been "just sex," but instead a precursor to something more.

"Do you regret it?" she finally asked. If he did, she'd be hurt, but she'd be able to move on, but if he didn't, then maybe – she wasn't even sure. Just _maybe_.

Never one to censor his words, Malfoy actually considered his answer for a moment. "If you're going to be a child about it and ruin our partnership, then yes, I regret it."

That was about as clear as oatmeal. Besides, he was the one who promised her that their partnership wouldn't be ruined, though she supposed that he couldn't really make a promise that the both of them would have to keep.

"I am _not _being a _child_," she snapped when the rest of his sentence hit her. She was a mature, dignified adult... who had fled from having a serious talk like a child.

He waited, an eyebrow raised.

"Fine, I was being a tiny bit child-like, but I don't want our partnership ruined any more than you do."

"Then we're in agreement."

Hermione was a little embarrassed and was indulging her embarrassment by staring at her book to avoid her partner's penetrating eyes. In the morning, she would be able to go back to normal, but the memory was just too fresh at the moment. Because her eyes were downcast, she didn't see that, instead of moving towards the door, Draco came around the desk. She started and turned her head sharply when he placed a hand on her shoulder.

Draco took advantage of her surprise to lean down and cover her lips with his own. His tongue immediately invaded her mouth, reducing Hermione to a bundle of pleasant shivers and racing blood. Had they not been otherwise occupied, she was sure that his lips would be tilted into a smug smirk as she melted under the onslaught of sensations.

Hermione was panting and flushed when he pulled away.

He blinked a few times, clearing some of the stormy darkness from his eyes."See you in the morning, Granger," he said, his lips now free to twist into that familiar smirk. The effect was somewhat lessened by the genuine amusement and hint of affection in his eyes.

At a loss for words, Hermione could only stare after him as he left. Her mind was in complete turmoil, trying to regain its usual momentum after being brought to a screeching stop by her partner's lips. She didn't regain control of herself until he was almost too far away to hear her.

"It better actually be in the morning!" Hermione called after him. "We're paying a visit to Kate's parents and I'd like it to happen before noon."

He didn't answer, but Hermione wasn't worried. If he wasn't in the office bright and early, then she was going to show up in his bedroom, demanding that he get up at a reasonable time. Maybe she'd even surprise him and have the upper hand next time.

* * *

Unsurprisingly, Malfoy wasn't there at nine in the morning when she was ready to leave. Earl, however, was.

"You have a glow about you," were the first words from his irritating little mouth.

Hermione had to violently repress the urge to pick him up and throw him into a rubbish bin. He was annoying, but he was also a god, so such antics probably weren't the best idea. It was so much fun to picture it though...

"You had no right meddling like you did," she said instead.

"I had every right; I'm the god of love. I can meddle in your love life however I want."

Her eyes narrowed and the urge to throw the lizard made an urgent resurgence. Hermione had to get out of there before she landed herself in a battle of wills with a powerful immortal being.

Without an explanation to the lizard, she left her office and stormed down the hallway to the Apparition point, hoping he wouldn't follow.

"Is Draco late for something important?" Narcissa asked when Hermione knocked on the door. As a rule, Hermione avoided the Manor unless there was somewhere important that they needed to be and Malfoy was late.

"He is. Would you mind sending him out?"

In all the times Hermione had been to the Manor to retrieve her wayward partner, not once had she actually set foot inside the daunting building. She would usually just wait outside the door while Narcissa sent a House Elf to rouse her lazy son, or if Narcissa wasn't home, the House Elf would do everything itself.

"Perhaps you would like to do it?"

Hermione was completely at a loss. In no way did she want to venture into Malfoy Manor, particularly with Draco's mother there, but it would be rude to show up at the door and force the regal Narcissa to go and wake up her lazy son.

The blond woman called an elf without waiting for Hermione's answer.

"I'll be in the garden if you need anything. The bloody animal is eating my roses again."

Bewildered, Hermione looked down at the elf that was patiently waiting to lead her to Malfoy's room.

The walk through the corridors was silent. The entire interior was brighter than she remembered and it seemed that the paintings were silenced so that they couldn't make their displeasure known. Hermione imagined that the paintings probably wouldn't have been all that pleased about Draco being her partner, so silencing them had probably been a necessity.

The elf abandoned her in front of a door, which she promptly pushed open. Inside the room it was completely dark, so Hermione stumbled her way through the darkness in what she hoped was the general direction of the bed.

Her journey across the room stalled when she collided with something that was large, solid, and warm. She squeaked as something was pressed against her neck. Going on experience, Hermione was willing to bet that it was a wand.

The pressure was immediately withdrawn at the sound of her voice. "Granger?"

"If you were awake the whole time, then why didn't you come in to work?" she demanded instead of answering. Her hands migrated to her hips even though he couldn't see the posture.

"I _wasn't _awake until just now, when _you_, with all the grace of a bull in a china shop, came barging into my room."

"I wouldn't need to be in your room if you'd just be on time for –_what are you doing_?"

Tired of her nagging, Draco had stepped forward and attached his lips to her neck. Her skin was so sweet and delicious. He wasn't sure how he'd been close to her on numerous occasions in the past and refrained from tasting it. There certainly wouldn't be much refraining in the future if he had anything to do with it. Earl's little push had opened something all-consuming, that was either going to bring them even closer, or burn up the strange friendship they'd managed to cultivate over years of being partnered together.

"I thought you said that yesterday wouldn't ruin our partnership," she said, a little breathless.

"This isn't ruining it," he said, his lips moving towards the pulse point at the base of her throat as she automatically tilted her head for him. "If anything, I'd say this is an improvement."

"Mmm, Draco, you have to stop." Hermione was completely failing at being stern and she knew it. If she wanted him to take her seriously about the stopping thing, she should probably get her hands out of his hair.

"Your mother's just outside," she tried.

"Rabbits in her azaleas again?" He managed to speak the words quickly and still keep up a shower of tiny, coaxing kisses and the occasional nip while still talking. Hermione could only assume that it was a skill acquired through much practice.

"Roses, actually."

Regaining enough control of herself to tighten her hands in his hair and pull his face away from her neck, Hermione was able to see him as he answered, "The evil vermin decided on a new tactic to torment mother then."

Why was it so much fun to watch his mouth move, and why couldn't he wear a shirt? He really shouldn't have turned the light on; Hermione wouldn't be able to stare at the visual feast he presented if the lights had stayed off. Her hands were back in his hair and she was kissing him properly only seconds after pulling him away from her.

"Does this mean I get to stay in bed after all?" he asked.

Hermione only then noticed that there was something mattress soft pressing into the backs of her legs and that Draco was pushing her slightly, trying to get her to fall backwards.

"No, we have to go!" She pushed him away, straightened her appearance, and started to head towards the door all in the same motion. It was a wonder she didn't fall. Draco sighed and followed after her, grabbing his shirt, trench coat and shoes on the way.


	20. Chapter 20

**Chapter 20**

**A/N: Hello readers! I was going to make you wait a whole week for the next chapter, but how can I possibly do that when I got almost fifty reviews for the last chapter? I was motivated this weekend and edited three more chapters and I'm almost done the fourth! I may not have to do the week long chapter waits at all (the majority of you wanted once a week with no break as I caught up with my editing).**

**Thanks so much to all of the lovely people who reviewed and to irianaceleste for betaing!**

**~Frosty**

"This place looks sort of familiar," Malfoy said as they climbed the many steps leading up to Kate's childhood home. Someone had thought it was a good idea to build the old estate on a hill, necessitating all visitors to embark on what felt like a mountain climbing expedition before they arrived at the house.

"It's beautiful," she said dismissively, "You've probably seen a picture somewhere."

The place really did look lovely. With the forest in the background, the rolling hills, and the regal quality of the house, the scene was something that wouldn't be out of place on a postcard. It looked familiar to her as well, but she was still cross with him about the whole bedroom incident when he made them even more late for their appointment with Kate's patents then they already were. They could delve into where they'd seen the house later, when they weren't in a hurry and Hermione wasn't cross with him.

Irritated with her for dismissing him like that, Draco had no problem shifting his attention from the house to the rather nice view he had of her arse as she walked up the stairs in front of him. She was wearing a skirt and no outer robe, so it was practically on display for his perusal. Really, if she didn't want him to look, then she shouldn't wear such inviting clothing.

"When we get there, remember to-" she cut off with an undignified squawk as he gave in to temptation and grabbed a handful of that lovely arse.

"Remember to let you do the talking," he said in a bored drawl that was at odds with his evil grin.

"And _keep your hands to yourself! _I will not allow whatever it is we're doing to interfere with our work."

Hermione moved quicker up the remainder of the stairs, just in case her verbal warning wasn't enough to keep her partner's wandering hands away from her person. This resulted in her reaching the front door slightly out of breath and a little flushed, but well before the leisurely Malfoy.

Knowing the gods weren't patient and that she and Draco needed all the time they could get, Hermione knocked on the door without waiting for her partner. From what she had gathered from the pictures, it should only be a kind-looking, elderly couple living there anyway, so she highly doubted that she was in any danger from the inhabitants.

An old man wearing a Muggle fishing hat and vest answered her knock almost immediately. His fishing pole and tackle box were waiting just inside the door. She must have caught him just as he was about to leave.

"Are you here about Kate as well? That girl always seems to be in trouble."

"Yes, sir," Hermione said, using her most polite voice. That seemed to be the best approach when dealing with crotchety senior citizens.

"Well I don't know where she is. I already told the Aurors everything I knew about where she may hide."

"I'm not an Auror, I actually need to find a deer that she's stolen. Do you have any idea where she might hide that?"

He looked at her like she was insane, which was understandable considering his daughter was in trouble for some very big crimes and Hermione was searching for a deer. Nevertheless, he scratched his chin and thought about it. "You know, as a child she was always running off to the woods and talking with the giants. Gave us quite a scare when she was younger, we were worried that she was going to get herself squished."

Hermione turned and examined the woods to the side of the house. They _had _been known to house a small clan of giants now that she was thinking of it.

Mr. Gamp was getting impatient with delaying his fishing trip. "Are we finished here? The fish wait for no man."

Hermione nodded to him. He left her with a few words of caution, warning her about the abnormally high levels of mud in the forest during the fall months.

By the time Malfoy sauntered over to her, Mr. Gamp had left.

"You did that on purpose, didn't you," Hermione accused. She didn't believe for a second that Draco had 'accidentally' arrived just as Mr. Gamp disappeared.

He smirked. "I'll cut the heads off of vampires all day, but asking me to speak with the parents of a missing murderer just isn't my kind of thing."

Rolling her eyes, Hermione pushed him back towards the stairs. "We're going back to the office. You're going to need your sword."

"My sword? Why do I get the feeling that I'm not going to like this?"

"Probably because you hate most aspects of our job."

* * *

"You dragged me out of the house before I had time for dinner; the least you can do is buy me lunch before we waltz off to wherever the hell it is we're going."

Sword attached to his belt, Draco was in a much better mood. Things were looking up if he was going to get to cut something. He wasn't, however, going to go easy on his partner just because his day was starting to look up. She might start thinking that he was a cheery person or something else equally blasphemous.

"I don't see why you get so much pleasure out of making me pay for lunch. You literally have more money than you have ways to spend it," she muttered. Nonetheless, she led the way towards her favourite places to eat. Their menu boasted wraps and pitas with filling such as alfalfa sprouts and baby spinach. Malfoy hated it, claiming it only sustenance for rabbits, but Hermione was buying him lunch, she had never agreed that he would enjoy it.

Later, seated in the cafe and nibbling on her "rabbit food," Hermione had to put a surprising amount of effort into ignoring her pouting partner. She had been right in guessing that he wouldn't be pleased about her choice of restaurant, but he hadn't voiced his opinion, only glared accusingly and then pouted. He would never admit it, probably preferring to say that he was making his displeasure known through silence. It would be a lie.

"Are you going to tell me where we're going?" he demanded halfway through his wrap.

Hermione had deliberately withheld the information because she was still sore at him for not only making her late, but also for having the audacity to grab her arse. Inwardly, she was getting irritated all over again at him. Outwardly, she calmly took another bite of her wrap and chewed slowly.

"Probably not," she said once she'd swallowed.

Malfoy continued to eat his meal, pouting once more. This time because he was being left out of the loop. He was trying to pout in a way that didn't reduce his masculinity. No one was fooled; he was sulking like a five year old.

Taking pity on him, Hermione decided to give him a hint. "If Mr. Gamp is to be believed, you're definitely going to need hiking boots."

Instead of the barrage of complaints that she'd been expecting, Draco just looked confused. The gears were turning very quickly in his head as he tried to work out some problem. Most likely, he was just running through every possible excuse, looking for a way to stay back at the office while she did all the hiking.

"Is something wrong?"

He blinked and then focused his eyes on her once more. "If I ruin any article of clothing, the Ministry is going to fully reimburse me."

Since he'd have to complete a form to do that and he had more money than he could ever need, Hermione was confident that Draco would never go through with that threat.

* * *

"Are you going to tell me now?" He'd given up on ignoring her once they Apparated back to the house of Kate's parents.

Hermione led the way around the back of the house and found the deer trail that slipped through the trees of the forest and disappeared in the distance beneath the somewhat overgrown foliage.

At the edge of the trees, just before the forest started, Draco stopped walking, giving her a look that clearly said he wasn't going to take a step further until he had some sort of explanation about what he should expect. Really, it would be irresponsible to let him go in blind to what could potentially become a dangerous situation.

She sighed; her game of silence had been childish but satisfying while it lasted. "Kate's father told me that she sometimes used to come out back to spend time with the giants. I can't imagine why though, they're not the best conversationalists."

Draco nodded and waved her to continue walking. "I don't want to contemplate the technicalities of it, but I'm assuming that's how half-giants come into existence."

"That's disgusting," Hermione muttered. Of course, she spent the next few minutes of their forest trekking trying very hard _not _to contemplate the technicalities of it. There were just so many _size _issues.

She turned to berate Malfoy for even bringing up the subject, but he wasn't there. His steps had been rustling behind her only a moment before, so she wasn't sure where he could have disappeared to so quickly, especially when there was only nature on either side of the trail, and she knew how he tried to avoid that.

"Granger – OW!" A pained yelp of a call sounded from somewhere off to Hermione's right. She whipped out her wand and dashed in that direction.

Malfoy had found the giants – well, they had found him. Her partner was suspended high above the ground in the meaty fist of a giant. Draco's arms were pinned tight against his sides, while the giant used the other hand to pet Draco's head like he was an animal.

The first thing that Hermione should have done was free her partner, but the sight of him being petted while he wore a look of extreme distaste had her crouched over and holding her knees for stability while she laughed.

"A little help?" he hissed. From his tone alone, Hermione knew that he was only seconds away from cursing a helpless giant.

"It seems that you've got yourself an admirer," Hermione hiccupped between laughing fits. Sometime during her laughing, the giantess had stopped petting Malfoy and moved to rubbing her cheek against his head, murmuring the word "pretty" again and again.

Even for a giantess, this one was large. Her nose was squished-looking, as if it had been broken before and no one had bothered to set it right, but her eyes showed a spark of intelligence that many giants didn't possess. The situation could have been much worse; this giantess obviously indulged herself with basic hygiene and had enough intelligence that she would most likely see reason when Hermione talked to her. It was always more difficult when the magical creatures Hermione spoke to were resistant to logic.

"Granger," Draco growled. He knew that his partner had been able to assess the situation almost instantly and that after that instant she was just basking in his humiliation.

As much as Hermione enjoyed watching the giant torment Malfoy, she knew that had she been in the same situation, she would be screeching at him if he had just stood there laughing – which he would have. If she didn't get him down soon, she was never going to hear the end of it. Hermione sighed in disappointment and tried to fix Draco's distraught expression firmly in her mind for a later day when she needed something to lighten her mood.

She stepped forward, finally drawing the giant's attention away from the new toy she was petting so roughly. "Excuse me," Hermione called, "We're here looking for Kate. Do you know if she's been around here recently?"

The giant regarded Hermione for a long time, seeming to forget that Draco was in her hand squirming in an attempt to free himself. "Kate?" the giant asked.

"Yes, we need to find her."

Once again, the giantess contemplated Hermione for a long time. "Mine?" she finally asked, holding Draco a little higher.

"I can't let you have him," Hermione said after a moment of feigned contemplation to make Draco think she was considering the trade. His glare promised retribution. "But I can do this..." Casting a spell she'd read about but never put into action, Hermione conjured a life-size doll that looked almost just like her partner.

Delighted, the giantess dropped Draco without even bothering to lower him to the ground and snatched up the doll. The blond collapsed onto the ground in a scowling lump, having not had the time to right himself while he fell.

"You're disturbingly good at that," Draco said, brushing the dirt and leaves off the seat of his pants. "Anything you want to tell me, those late nights getting lonely at the office?" He paused. "Should I start magically locking my doors at night?"

"That's the first time I've used that spell, and you _already _magically lock your doors at night." Hermione chose to ignore the rest of Malfoy's ramblings and turned her attention to the giant. "You can keep that if you tell us where Kate is."

"Kate no here. No here since cold," the giantess said as she snuggled her new doll. Apparently her loyalty to her friend only lasted as long as her attention span.

Hermione and Draco exchanged a glance.

"Are we going to believe that Kate hasn't been here since the winter or do we have to do further investigations?" Draco asked in an undertone.

The giantess had no reason to lie, and besides that, she had a naive aura of guilelessness about her that led Hermione to believe that she was telling the truth. Nevertheless, they were going to have to search the rest of the forest, just to be through. Draco read this in Hermione's expression and groaned.

"Fine, but _you're _the one who gets grabbed next time."

Hermione gave him a sweet smile. "But Malfoy, you're just so charming."

"Too charming apparently." He shuddered. "I don't even want to _think _about what she's doing to that doll right now."

* * *

"How are we progressing on finding Kate?" Earl asked. He'd been sitting on Hermione's desk waiting for them when they returned from the forest.

"_We_?" Draco spat disbelievingly. "You haven't done _anything _to help us since you decided to tag along. If anything, your presence has actually been detrimental to our investigation.

Earl dismissed the accusation. "It's a team effort. Psyche and I stay here and hold down the fort while you two do the leg work."

Sensing that the argument wasn't going to blow over quickly, Hermione pushed around Draco so that she could get inside her office and then took her seat behind her desk. Earl was sitting on a pile of papers that looked important, so she brushed him aside and let them bicker while she did the actual work.

"I don't see why Artemis chose _you_," Draco continued with a contemptuous sneer. "I'm sure she had much more helpful gods to choose from."

With a tiny sigh, Psyche fluttered over and landed on Hermione shoulder to read the memos as well.

Earl gave an offended huff. "I've been _very _helpful. You just don't give me enough credit."

"I must have missed what little 'helpfulness' you managed to squeeze between all of those times that you were completely useless."

"You insolent little mortal! If Artemis didn't need your help, I'd have you in love with a wild boar before you could even blink."

Draco scoffed, not even a little bit intimidated, which was silly considering who he was talking to. "If she wanted her doe found quickly, I don't understand why in the world she chose _you _to help, or why she didn't just ask us outright to find the thing in the first place."

"So her methods were a little convoluted and slow. When you live for eternity, you're not always... expedient."

Hermione put the paper back down with a sigh. The top paper was a pointless memo reminding her that Fridays were dedicated to Muggle clothing in an attempt to spread goodwill in the workplace. Since she usually wore Muggle clothing under her robes, this didn't affect Hermione anyway.

There were more important things weighing on her mind than stupid interoffice memos. Hermione brought her hand up to her shoulder so that Psyche could crawl on and then she moved the butterfly to eye level.

"Psyche, do you mind if I asked you a question?" Hermione's eyes darted over to Earl and Draco to check that they were still entirely engrossed in their argument. "You don't have to answer, of course, I've just been wondering something."

"Go ahead." Psyche didn't talk much, probably because she was married to someone so outspoken and troublesome, but the impression Hermione got of her was not one she would have associated with the gods at all. Psyche seemed kind, patient, and slow to anger. Not once had she threatened or manipulated someone while Hermione was there to witness it. If Hermione hadn't already known the myth, she would have wondered how it was that someone like Earl ended up with such a quiet and understanding woman as his wife.

"Why did you forgive Eros so easily? He was positive that you were going to tear him to shreds and feed him to alligators or something similar."

Psyche chuckled, the sound like wind chimes in a breeze. Even her laugh was beautiful. Hermione probably would have felt insecure in her presence if Psyche hadn't been so kind and so obviously in love with Earl. "For the first century, I _was _furious with him. I probably would have ripped off his testicles and fed them to a lion while he watched."

Hermione cringed.

"He's immortal; they'd grow back," Psyche assured. Somehow, Hermione didn't think that made it much better, but she refrained from commenting. "After that, I started to miss him. Despite his troublemaking ways, he's my husband and I love him more than anything. I gave up my mortality and everyone I loved for him."

"Do you mind me asking why he was gone in the first place?"

Sighing, Psyche glanced over at her husband where he was practically bouncing up and down as he yelled insults at Draco, who was returning them with just as much vigour. "Sometimes it's hard being married to the god of love. He'll find a sad person in a bar and take it upon himself to find that man the perfect match. He did this one too many times, and when he missed a dinner with his parents and made me go alone, it was the final straw. I sent him a message to not bother coming home." She sighed again. "Of course, he took it too literally and never returned."

"Men," Hermione said, rolling her eyes to the ceiling.

Psyche made a sound of agreement. "I wouldn't have been so harsh with him if it had been anyone other than his parents. Aphrodite has always hated me, mostly because I'm more beautiful than her, and Aries never fails to tell stories full of blood, gore, and 'the glory of battle.' They turn my stomach."

There all kinds of horror stories about terrible in-laws, but Hermione was sure that Psyche had it worse than more.

"That next memo in the pile has an official seal on it, it looks important," Psyche observed.

Nodding her agreement, Hermione put the butterfly back on her shoulder and continued to read her way through her papers. Most of them were pointless memos about Ministry politics, but midway through the pile she found one that made her freeze.

Her stillness was enough to draw Draco's –and consequently, Earl's – attention. Hermione looked up from the note to meet her partner's curious gaze. "I have a feeling that we're going to have some explaining to do."

She handed the blond the letter as she explained. "The Auror department is requesting our assistance with questioning a colony of giants."

Draco scowled at the paper as if it had done him personal offense. If the Auror had gone through the proper channels to get their assistance with the giants, they had to explain that they had already spoken to the giants without getting prior approval, thus interfering in an open investigation.

"I hate official reprimands," Draco muttered.


	21. Chapter 21

**Chapter 21**

**A/N: Hello readers! Over 500 reviews! You guys are the best. Thanks to everyone who reviewed and to irianaceleste for betaing. **

**~Frosty**

"-behaviour is deplorable, an embarrassment to the department."

Out of the corners of her downturned eyes, Hermione stole a glance at her partner. Draco had long ago stopped listening to the official reprimand they were receiving, she could tell by the glazed over look in his eyes. She also noticed him stealing glances at her bare legs on more than one occasion. Her robes, unlatched, had fallen open to reveal the skirt and blouse she wore beneath them. Pants would probably be a good idea for official reprimands in the future. In all honesty, she was having trouble paying proper attention as well. Their boss had used the word deplorable six times already, three of those times in one single grammatical abomination of a sentence. Draco had still been listening at that point, and shot Hermione a knowing smirk as she cringed while still trying to look contrite.

Their boss wasn't very much of a presence in the office. Appointed to the position before the first rising of Voldemort, Mr. Moss was a shining example of the shortcomings involved when someone is promoted beyond their abilities. Mr. Moss came into the office maybe once a week, preferring to spend the rest of his time "delegating" as he liked to call it, or "sitting on his fat arse and drinking himself into liver failure" as Draco liked to call it.

Mr. Moss mostly allowed the office to run itself. The only time he made his presence known was when someone did something wrong, and he only cared then because a screw up in the department reflected poorly on its head. Even when forced to come to the office because of misbehaving employees, Mr. Moss just appeared, verbally abused the offender, and disappeared again.

Draco had received a few official reprimands in the past, usually for small things like his continued tardiness, and most notably for the time he'd been forcibly ejected from Luxembourg and banned from ever returning. _That _time, their boss had very nearly had an aneurism, which had been a sight, considering Mr. Moss rarely mustered up the energy to even properly scold his employees.

"If you weren't so good at what you do, I would have been rid of you both a long time ago." Mr. Moss looked between his two best employees, making sure they saw his distaste for them in his disgusted expression. "You're almost more trouble than you're worth."

The "almost" was key. As long as they were worth more than they were trouble, they'd have a job, and Hermione planned on ensuring that she continued to be very useful in the future. She couldn't think of any other job that would allow her to do so much good for magical creatures.

Out of the corner of her eye, Hermione stole another glance at her partner, who had dropped the glazed look and was openly ogling her legs. His eyes travelled up her legs and moved to her skirt, and then the rest of her body. The shameless git was openly undressing her with his eyes _in front of their boss._

After a few more minutes of being scolded, Draco for being late, Hermione for wrecking her office, and the both of them for running off and speaking to the giants without the proper clearance, Mr. Moss sent them on their way with a stern warning to _never _step a single foot out of line again. Hermione had been in a little bit of a hurry to get the doe back to Artemis and hadn't bothered going through the proper channels before they went to visit Kate's parents. They had done it frequently in the past, but this time they had obviously been unlucky and were caught.

* * *

"Granger," Malfoy said on the way back to her office.

Official reprimands always put Hermione into spectacularly foul moods, so the questioning look she sent towards her partner was probably more like a glare. "What?"

Like usual, he was completely unaffected. "It's half past six."

"So?"

Draco grabbed her wrist and dragged her into a supply closet as they passed it. "We've been finished work for over an hour," he said, right before kissing her. Of course, Hermione's conscience immediately objected, but it took her body a little longer to get the message.

"We can't," she gasped as he pulled away to remove her outer robe. "We were just reprimanded, another one will look even worse on our records."

Well used to dealing with his partner and her adherence to the rules, Draco knew that he just had to be persuasive enough to convince her to break them. As a highly logical creature, Hermione knew that rules and laws were often outdated and inaccurate, and so she didn't have as much respect for them as most people thought. Lucky for Draco, he knew exactly how to persuade her. It was either going to work, or she was going to hex him.

He was willing to take that risk.

The normally assertive former Gryffindor was completely pliant in his hands as he pushed her back against a wall, lowered his head to kiss her neck, and hitched one of her legs around his hips. The triple assault was more than Hermione's conscience could take.

"We have to be quick then," she said, her voice breathy.

Draco grinned victoriously; he had no plans of being quick, but by the time she realized this, he knew that she wasn't going to care in the least.

* * *

When they finally managed to make it to Hermione's office, they were both flushed and ruffled despite their attempts to straighten themselves out before leaving the supply closet. Draco had been right that Hermione hadn't objected to taking longer than she intended in the closet.

They stopped right in front of Hermione's office, Hermione staring down in exasperation. There was fog seeping out from under her door for the second time. Hermione was a little worried that this was going to become something of a regular occurrence. She knew that nothing good ever came when the gods started meddling in the affairs of mortals.

Draco elbowed her and gestured to it to make sure that she'd noticed the same thing he did. The look she gave him said "I see it as well, but there's nothing we can do but find out what they want," or something along those lines.

Drawing her wand, Hermione looked back at Draco to assure herself that he was right behind her. She sighed before opening the door, starting to miss the days that consisted solely of paperwork. Hermione whipped open the door and burst into her office, followed closely by Draco.

It wasn't Artemis as Hermione had expected. Though the woman they found seated at Hermione's desk certainly wasn't mortal. She had a large sheaf of wheat on her back, ruddy cheeks, and a plump figure clothed in a dress that appeared to be made of gold. Her eyes appeared kind, but there was also a will of steel and a coldness about her that suggested she could be brutal should she need to be.

"Can I help you?" Hermione asked at the same time Malfoy demanded, "Why is it always fog with you people?"

"The fog really sets the tone for the rest of the visit," the woman said, barely glancing at Malfoy. For a group of people who were supposed to collect beautiful humans, the gods certainly didn't seem the least interested in Malfoy, someone who was a fine specimen of the masculine form in Hermione's opinion. Her vibrant green eyes turned to Hermione and the goddess' ambiguous expression morphed into a murderous one. "I wanted you to see it and know that your end approaches. Know that every breath could be your last and tremble in fear with the idea of your coming end."

"Artemis did it first," Draco drawled. He was pretending to be nonchalant about the goddess' threats, but Hermione hadn't failed to notice that he had casually shifted himself so that she was slightly behind him. Hermione shot him a warning look. The man had remarkably few self-preservation instincts for someone who was supposed to be a coward – obviously he had grown out of that stage.

"Artemis is an uptight little goody two shoes." The goddess visibly shook off her disappointment at having unwittingly duplicated Artemis' actions. "No matter, I have important business with you and I won't allow you to distract me with trivialities."

She plucked the flower from Hermione's desk – the one she'd picked from the butterfly conservatory, not the bleeding hearts that grew on the corner. There was a stasis spell on it to keep it from dying that should have kept it in the vase, but Hermione had already established that the gods didn't have a problem breaking through simple mortal magic.

"Do you realize what you did when you picked this flower?"

Draco decided that this question had been directed at him. "She lived a little and broke a rule for the sake of breaking a rule."

"Do you know who I am, tiny mortal?" Suddenly, the goddesses' relatively soft voice rumbled with the power of earthquakes.

"I'm guessing you're going to tell me." Horrified at his behaviour and a little worried he was going to get himself turned to stone, Hermione silenced her partner. It was probably a good thing, since he tried to comment further and found that he no longer had a voice. His accusing stare immediately landed on Hermione. Draco hated it when she silenced him just when he got into a mocking groove.

"I am Demeter." She held up the innocent-looking poppy, _"This _was one of my favourite devotees. I granted him eternal life as a flower when he was killed in battle, _and you picked him_."

Hermione glared at Draco. While it could be said that Earl's involvement in their lives was somewhat her fault for bringing him back to her hotel room in the first place, this time their tangling with the gods was entirely _Draco's _fault. Hermione never would have picked that flower if her trouble-making partner hadn't goaded her into it.

"I had no idea that he was anything more than a flower," Hermione said, hoping that just once the gods would be placated by a simple apology.

Of course, she was being naive and she knew it.

"He's had to suffer while you kept him on your desk for something pretty to look at. Don't think you're going to get away with that." The goddess appeared to contemplate Hermione for a moment. "I _would _turn you to stone, let you feel what it's like to be trapped in a stasis spell and used as something pretty, _but _Artemis has informed me that she has a use for you at the moment, so, as a favour to her, I'll have to compromise."

Without saying anything further, Demeter disappeared in a puff of smoke, taking the poppy and the billows of fog with her.

Draco looked around the office, confused as to what the goddess had done. Besides the absence of the goddess and her fog, nothing appeared to be different. It actually took him a second to realize that his partner was no longer behind him. Further frantic looks around the room revealed that she was nowhere to be found. There was, however a petite gecko resting on her desk. It had its front feet splayed over its eyes in a position so awkward that Draco didn't think it was natural. He used his wand to cancel the silencing spell that had been keeping him quiet. He'd allowed it to remain after his partner cast it just in case he had the desire to say something else that could get him turned to stone.

"Granger?"

Slowly, the lizard removed one of her feet from an eye. "I'm not stone?" She jumped to her feet before Draco could answer and then promptly staggered, not expecting the extra set of legs. "I'm a gecko!" she wailed, her voice just as loud as it would have been had she still had the use of her human lungs.

"At least you're still alive?" Draco tried. It was bad enough when Granger was a distraught _human _female, it was so much worse when she was a lizard. At least when she was human he knew that he could hug her and she would stop crying after a moment, when she was a lizard, he wasn't even sure she even _could _cry, so she could be distraught for a long time. Perhaps he could try picking her up and squeezing her. That might work in a pinch, but the mental image of him squishing the life right out of her by accident made him hesitant to attempt it.

He took a seat at her desk and rested his chin on a clear space just beside his partner. The slightly uncomfortable position brought them almost eye to eye. Carefully, he patted her head with a single finger. "We'll figure something out," he tried to soothe. Comforting was definitely not a Malfoy's natural state.

Hermione was unusually resistant to his uncharacteristic optimism. "There's nothing to figure out here. No human magic will be able to change me back to normal."

"That's no way for a former Gryffindor to talk. I'm disappointed in you. Where's the blind optimism, the ridiculous understanding that you're going to come out on top?" Draco picked her up and placed her on his shoulder, giving her one more stroke on her head.

Not for a second did Hermione think that Draco believed these things about her or Gryffindors in general, he was just trying to improve her outlook. She appreciated the effort, but it wasn't working. Feeling despondent, Hermione crawled over his collar to lie against his skin. The warmth there and the feel of his heartbeat did more to make her feel better than anything he could have said. Malfoy tensed at the feel of her cool skin, but he allowed her to sit there, putting aside his own discomfort to ease hers.

"Malfoy," Harry asked, having opened Hermione's office door unnoticed and found his friend to be absent, "Do you know where Hermione is?"

The slight squirming under his collar told Draco that he wasn't to mention anything that had just transpired.

"Why do you want to speak with her?"

Harry's eyebrows drew together in both confusion and irritation. He didn't see why Malfoy couldn't just tell him where Hermione was, but then nothing was ever that simple when Malfoy was involved. The bloke lived to make trouble, especially for Harry.

What Malfoy didn't know was that Harry was tired. He'd been hoping that Hermione would get back to him within a reasonable amount of time so that they could go ask the giants some questions. Then he found out that not only had she already been to question the giants and came back, but she had found nothing useful when she'd been there. He was back to square one and had wasted an entire day that could have been spent doing something productive if only Hermione had just answered his initial message instead of running off on her own. Harry was starting to understand how Dumbledore had felt back when it was Harry always running off and getting himself into trouble.

Instead of finding a lead with the giants as he'd hoped, Harry had compiled a few follow-up questions that he needed to ask Hermione in the unlikely event that there was some important detail of her meeting with the giants that she had missed. Except he couldn't find her. It being after hours, he'd already checked her house, so her office or with Malfoy had been his only other ideas. Harry was getting increasingly frustrated and just didn't have the patience or the inclination to deal with Malfoy.

"Malfoy, just tell me where Hermione is."

The blond winced and put a hand on the side of his neck as if something pained him. Harry wasn't sure what it was, but it changed Malfoy's attitude. Even the former Slytherin's expression altered from mocking condescension to something still unwelcoming but much more neutral. It was borderline polite considering it was Harry that Draco was facing.

"Give me a message and I'll get it to her," Malfoy said, not looking happy about it. The blond appeared to be muttering something to his shoulder, but Harry was too far away to catch the grumbled words. It was probably for the best anyway, Harry didn't want to deal with Malfoy's insanity. Apparently that was Hermione's job now and had been for a few years.

Not trusting the sudden change of heart, Harry narrowed his eyes at the man who had done his very best to ruin Harry's school years. Sure, he may have improved slightly as he aged, but Malfoy was never going to be someone with whom Harry wanted to spend his time. Finally, Harry decided that Malfoy could be trusted to be professional enough to deliver a work-related message to Hermione without getting into _too _much trouble.

"Tell her that I need a copy of her report on the discussion with the giants, and if she hasn't finished her report, then I need to talk to her about it."

In an oddly complacent gesture, Malfoy just nodded and turned away. Harry swore he heard the blond mutter, "We're going to have to fix this as soon as possible, or else I'm going to have to do bloody paperwork." Harry just dismissed it as Malfoy's usual strangeness and let it slide. He already had too much on his plate to be worrying about the git's idiosyncrasies.


	22. Chapter 22

**Chapter 22**

**A/N: Hello readers! I'm kind of dreading Monday, especially with this "Frankenstorm" supposed to hit tomorrow, so I figured, as a celebration of me finally finishing editing this entire story, I'd post another chapter. This way, maybe your reviews could cheer my up on the horrible Monday, and maybe this new chapter could cheer up you guys a little (because I'm pretty sure Monday hatred is pretty universal).**

**Thanks to everyone who reviewed and to irianaceleste for betaing!**

**~Frosty**

"Draco, my roses-"

"Not now, mother," he said impatiently as he brushed right past her. Normally he wasn't so short with his mother, but he had a squirming lizard against his neck and it was one of the most unpleasant feelings in the world, even if he knew the lizard was Granger. In her human form, his partner was welcome to squirm against him in whatever way she wished, but as a gecko, the whole experience was just disturbing.

"Draco Lucius Malfoy, you will not ignore me!"

No matter how old he got, Draco had a feeling that his mother would always be able to stop him when she used that tone. It was something that had been ingrained in his very being at a young age, and conditioning that thorough wasn't something a person could easily forget. He froze in his tracks and turned around to face Narcissa, an apologetic expression already adorning his aristocratic features. "Mother, I'm sorry, but I'm dealing with something much more pressing than the state of your rose beds at the moment. I'll ask Granger for some new spells to keep the rabbits away when I see her next."

Narcissa, not used to such insolence from her offspring, was at first too surprised to react. She didn't take well to being dismissed, not even by her haughty son.

Knowing that he only had seconds before his mother got over her surprise, Draco left before she could bring out _the tone _once more.

"You're adorable when you're cowering from the wrath of your mum," Hermione whispered from his shoulder. No matter how many times she witnessed it, she had a feeling that she would always be entertained by the interactions of Malfoy and his mother. It was just odd to see a normally intimidating man become so easily cowed by a woman who, though tall, was still a good head shorter than him.

"Not another word, Miss completely dependent on me until she's in her human body again."

* * *

"The one time we need Earl and he's nowhere to be found," Hermione complained.

On the way to his room, Draco had stopped at the Manor's library, where he grabbed a thick, leather-bound and ancient book on Greek mythology. A book that proved entirely unhelpful.

"It figures." Draco was laying face-down in that same book, sprawled out on his bed. Having scanned every page of tiny, headache inducing print, he'd given up on his search with new respect for his partner and all the research she did. Draco wasn't unintelligent, but he _definitely _didn't have his partner's love of research and dusty old books full of antiquated language.

"Maybe if we just wrote his name on a piece of paper and burned it?" Hermione suggested. She was perched beside him on the bed, with enough space in between them that he wouldn't jostle her with his dramatic, frustrated flailing. "My mum used to tell me that if you wanted a greater power to hear you, that was the way to do it. I, of course, dismissed it as nonsense, but maybe there was truth in there somewhere."

He tilted his head slightly so that he could see his partner. She was still a gecko. Had she been in her own body, Draco could think of any number of things he would rather be doing with her in his bed, but instead, he was writing letters to the god of love. It figured that he finally got her into his bed and they couldn't even do anything fun. Goyle would never let him hear the end of it if he found out that Draco'd had his partner in his bed and the only thing they did was _study._

"He probably won't be able to change you back even if we somehow manage to get his attention," Draco muttered. Nevertheless, he obediently went in search of a quill and parchment so that they could try Hermione's idea. He was just in the process of lighting the paper on fire when he was interrupted.

"What's going on in here?" Earl asked, appearing on Draco's desk and nearly making the blond burn himself on the candle flame. Draco immediately started spitting a string of curses at the lizard, but Earl wasn't listening. Instead, he was staring at Hermione with wide-eyed wonder. "Have you lost weight? You look great."

"I'm a gecko!" Had Hermione been in her own body, she would have thrown something at the infuriating lizard. Now that she knew that he was immortal and so impervious to physical damage, she was much more willing to give in to her violent urges regarding the infuriating reptile.

Earl blinked a few times and tilted his head to the side. "So you are. It looks good on you." His attention span ran out and he turned back to look at what Draco was doing. "What's going on with the paper and candle over there?"

"I don't want to be a gecko! I want to be back to normal!" Hermione screeched as Draco explained what he had been doing, not looking pleased about it in the least. It was embarrassing to have to tell the being that he'd been trying to summon that he'd been trying to summon him.

"That's rubbish. It wouldn't have worked," Earl said as soon as Draco finished.

Hermione, not amused with being ignored, tried to stomp her foot in irritation. Unfortunately, the only thing she managed was the quietest little shuffling sound while making herself look silly.

"Earl, can you change me back to normal or not?"

"Of course not." Earl spoke dismissively, as if Hermione were a small child asking ridiculous questions. "I'm the god of love, not creepy crawly things. Artemis, however, is all about animals and the like. She might do it when you find her doe."

"We're back where we started then," Draco said, sitting on the bed beside Hermione. He sensed that she was horribly disappointed that she was going to have to stay a gecko for a while. For that matter, he was disappointed as well. One can hardly have the same sort of fun with a gecko as he could with a woman.

* * *

Hermione didn't know if it was because she was used to being warm blooded or not, but she had spent the majority of the night restlessly craving heat. Luckily, Draco had left her curled up on his nightstand in an old shirt he had crumpled into a nest shape so that she'd be comfortable. From there, it wasn't much of a walk to where Draco lay asleep in his bed. She curled up against the back of his neck. It was much toastier there.

Unfortunately, Malfoy hadn't realized that it was her in his bed, and upon waking he yelped and threw her. He realized what had happened remarkably quickly and was able to use his wand to catch her before she hit a wall, but the entire incident had him in a horrible mood by the time they got to the office. Hermione wasn't really sure what his problem was, since it was _her _who had very nearly been a pancake against a wall, but she was used to his mood swings. She wasn't entirely unaffected by her irate partner; her mood was somewhat darkened as well as they entered her office.

Of _course _it was that morning Harry chose to ambush Draco.

"Where's Hermione?" Harry demanded the moment Malfoy walked through the office door.

Draco frowned at his school nemesis. In the time he'd worked with her, Draco hadn't once been forced to make nice with Potter, mostly because Hermione had been desperately scrambling to keep her friends from finding out that she was partnered with a Malfoy. Draco missed those blissful, Potter-free days.

Quickly, before he was contaminated by Potter's presence, Draco spat out the first thing he could think of to get rid of the interfering former-Gryffindor. "I'm sure she'll be in shortly. I'll send her over to your office when she arrives."

Harry wasn't buying Draco's suddenly helpful side. Something was up and he was determined to get to the bottom of it. Hermione was a stickler for being on time, it really wasn't like her to be so late for work, and Harry was starting to get a little bit worried about his friend. "I'm not going anywhere until you tell me where Hermione is."

Just has she had the previous day, Hermione was resting inside Malfoy's collar where she could stay warm, so she heard the entire interaction. Considering her partner's mood, she didn't think she had very long before Malfoy fished her out of his shirt and chucked her at Harry's head. Sometimes it didn't pay off to have a friend as attentive and protective as Harry, especially when she had a partner as moody as Draco.

Hermione and Draco weren't the only ones lacking patience that morning. Harry only waited a moment for Malfoy to answer him before snapping, "I don't have time for this, Malfoy. Just tell me where she is."

Not wanting to be noticed but needing to see what was happening, Hermione poked her head up out of Malfoy's collar. It wasn't the first time that her curiosity had gotten the better of her, and it certainly wouldn't be the last. Poor Harry looked like he was so tired that he was ready to keel over and sleep for a month. He didn't need the extra stress of her disappearance, but he also didn't need to worry about the possibility that she would forever be stuck as a bloody gecko.

"You're obviously here because you have something to tell her, and I'm betting it's work related. Just tell me whatever the hell it is and I'll make sure she hears it."

Harry gave Draco a suspicious look. Things would be so much easier if Hermione was just herself and could ask her friend whatever it was that he had to tell her. Draco was actually doing surprisingly well with convincing Harry to tell him. She could tell her friend was on the verge of giving up on insisting to know where she was, but then another flash of suspicion overcame his eyes.

"Why should I trust you?" Harry demanded.

"Because Granger does." It was simple and truthful, and apparently enough to convince Harry.

"Fine," Harry said, sounding defeated. Hermione was sympathetic; she knew how exhausting it could be to handle Draco when he was at his most obtuse. "Those men we captured have been going through questioning and one of them finally cracked yesterday. We have a possible location for Kate's safe house."

It was Draco's turn to be suspicious. "I thought that was Auror business?"

Frustrated, Harry ran a hand through his hair. "I thought Hermione might want to be there. She was really torn up about what that woman was doing to magical creatures – as I'm sure you recall." Malfoy sneered at Harry's reminder of witnessing a caring moment between him and Granger. Kindness was considered a weakness to his father, and Draco didn't like showing it, a habit he had learned very young. The fact that it had been _Potter _to witness the moment of kindness with his partner just enhanced the unpleasantness of the entire situation.

"I'll tell her," Draco said, making sure there was enough reluctance and annoyance in his voice to make it believable, "But I'm not sure she's going to be able to make it."

Hermione wiggled in protest, knowing he didn't like the feel of her scales on his flesh, but Draco was unfazed. He simply pretended that his neck had an itch and squished her flat to still her movement. Recognising his gesture as the warning that it was, she stilled obediently, fuming the entire time. When she was herself again, she was going to hex him so badly he wouldn't be able to walk straight for a week!

"Fine," Draco muttered out of the corner of his mouth, too quiet for Harry to hear. He raised his voice to speck to the other man, "I'd like to go in Granger's stead."

* * *

"I still can't believe you let _Malfoy _come," Ron grumbled, not bothering to keep his voice low. He wanted Malfoy to hear just how unwelcome he was.

Draco, having not expected anything even resembling manners from the uncultured Weasel, chose to ignore the comment. Instead, he pictured all of the things Granger was going to do to make this up to him. Some of them were predictably dirty, but there were also more innocent fantasies; her admitting that she wasn't always right, Granger promising to never nag him about his refusal to read files. He paused for a minute and basked in the fantasy of Granger never again nagging him about reading some sodding file ever again. That would be the life.

Kate's potential hideout was a tiny little shack in the middle of a farmer's field in Wales. From the outside it looked barely habitable and so small that there couldn't be room for much more than a bed. Peeking over Draco's collar, Hermione didn't even want to contemplate what the bathroom arrangement was, though she supposed that magic really helped with that whole can of worms.

"He's very persuasive when he wants to be," Harry said to Ron defensively.

Hermione had a feeling that Harry wasn't quite sure how exactly Draco had convinced him. She knew the feeling well, having experience it on more than one occasion herself. Draco had charisma and an impressive mind when he bothered to use it. He was a worthy opponent for her in an argument; poor Harry hadn't even stood a chance against such a manipulative and cunning force.

The Aurors surrounded the small building, with Malfoy standing off to the side. He couldn't legally participate in the raid, but there were no laws against him being present for it – a few policies against it, sure, but no actual laws.

"I bet Mr. and Mrs. Gamp didn't see _this _in their daughter's future when they were spoiling her rotten," Ron muttered.

Malfoy's entire body tensed, but his tone was mild when he inquired, "Gamp? I thought her name was Swift or something."

Resting on his shoulder, Hermione felt her partner tense and was immediately suspicious. Someone as in control of himself as Draco was wouldn't have had such a strong reaction to a casual comment without a reason, and she doubted it was because he was offended because Ron assumed that the Pureblooded Gamps spoilt their only daughter.

"She was married for a while and kept his last name when he died," Harry explained absently. His entire attention was focused on preparing to knock down the door. He was so focused that his Auror trained eye and naturally suspicious personality didn't catch on to Draco's strange behaviour.

In the tiniest voice she could muster, Hermione addressed her partner, "What did you just realize?"

It was a risk to speak to him with so many Aurors present, but her curiosity was burning her up inside.

"Later," Draco murmured.

They both watched as the Aurors flooded into the small shack and then came back out only moments later. It was clear from their faces that they hadn't found what they'd been looking for.

"Well, this has been a huge waste of time," Draco said quietly. Hermione was the only one who heard him, but she was sure that all the Aurors would agree. It took a lot of organization to gather a team of Aurors to storm a building, even such a small one. Everyone there had wasted time they could have used to do something more productive.

Out of the corner of her eye, Hermione caught a flash of red. Psyche was standing in the field not far from the shack, her huge butterfly unfurled and shining crimson in the sun. She was in her human form. The Aurors must not have been able to see her, because there was no way that they wouldn't have noticed the winged woman standing off to the side of their investigation scene. Psyche was so beautiful that Hermione doubted that the men would be able to look away had they happened to glance upon her. Psyche was a sight to behold.

Having noticed the goddess at the same time as his partner, Draco tried to subtly make his way over to her without drawing the attention of the Aurors. It was only as they got closer that they noticed Earl perched on his wife's shoulder.

"Look at you two acting like an old married couple already," Earl said.

"Normal married couples don't involve one spouse carrying the other one around in lizard form on their shoulder all the time," Hermione snapped. She didn't appreciate how excited Earl was that she had been changed into a gecko. She understood that he was immortal and older than time, but he definitely had a skewed idea of a healthy relationship.

"What are you two doing here?" Draco asked.

"You two disappeared from your office and we overheard someone talking about the raid. We thought we'd come and see if you found her." Psyche nodded along with Earl as he spoke, content to allow her husband the chance to talk. Earl certainly loved to hear himself speak.

"Malfoy, we're going back," Harry called, finally noticing that the blond wasn't where Harry had last seen him. "What the hell are you doing?"

"Nothing important," Draco answered. His hand thoughtlessly cupped around Hermione's small form so that she wouldn't fall off of his shoulder as he turned to walk back to the others.

"These people are masters of denial," Earl muttered irritably as he watched them walk back to the waiting Aurors.

Psyche nodded her agreement, placing her hand on her husband much like Draco's was on his partner. "They've had years to perfect the skill."


	23. Chapter 23

**Chapter 23**

**A/N: Hello readers! It is officially November! Not only does that mean sometimes startling moustaches will start to pop up everywhere, but it also means that it's time for the writing of novels! If you want to find me and add me as a writing buddy on the nanowrimo site, I'm there as frostykitten.**

**Also! Thanks to all of the people who reviewed and to irianaceleste for betaing!**

**~Frosty**

"Where are we going?" Hermione's voice came out strange because Malfoy was jogging and she jostled against him with every step. The only thing keeping her from bouncing right off of his shoulder was the hand he was using to hold her there.

"I have a suspicion I need to confirm."

Well that was about as clear as a stick of butter, as Hermione's grandmother used to say. Not in a position to argue, Hermione just did her best to cling to Draco's shirt and skin. While she wanted to make him stop and explain himself, she didn't want to fall off and get trampled on.

Harry and Ron had given the blond a strange look when he'd rushed towards the Floo as soon as they were back at the Ministry, but they hadn't commented, probably just happy to be rid of Draco as quickly as possible. Considering the hurry her partner appeared to be in, it was probably best that Harry and Ron hadn't attempted to delay Draco.

Midstride, Malfoy reached up and plucked her from her hiding place right before he grabbed a handful of Floo powder and then whipped it into the fire. Hermione had a moment of bafflement as to why his destination was Malfoy Manor and then she was swirling through the Floo network, hoping that Malfoy's tight grip on her was enough to keep her from swirling off to some unknown fireplace. She didn't even want to contemplate what would happen if she came out of the wrong fireplace in the form of a gecko. Finding her way home would certainly be nearly impossible.

Luckily, Draco emerged from the fireplace with Hermione still firmly held in his hand.

Narcissa must have been waiting near the fireplace for the return of her son, because she was there as soon as Draco stepped out of the Floo. She put on her best stern face and stared up at her son. "Draco, you work with magical creatures for a living, and I _demand _that you do something about my roses."

"That's why I'm here, mother." He brushed past her and continued his earlier jog, not bothering to explain anything to anyone. It was one of his more annoying habits.

Hermione had been inside of the Manor before, but it was so large that she hadn't seen anything close to the entire building, and she certainly hadn't explored everything that the grounds had to offer. She spent much of their trip to the rose garden with her eyes wide as she took in the splendour in which her partner spent his spare time languishing. The scenery served as a distraction from her burning desire to know what the hell was going on in Draco's head to suddenly make him so determined to protect his mother's rose bushes.

The rose garden was beautiful, boasting a high shrubbery that separated the formal garden from the rest of the grounds. In the centre of the area was a graceful white fountain that filled the air with soft tinkling and light mist. It was surrounded by four symmetrical rose beds filled with some of the largest and most vibrant red and snowiest white roses Hermione had ever seen. She would have taken a moment to appreciate the beauty of the entire scene if all of her attention had not been focused on the shining golden doe that was delicately nibbling on the white petals of what Hermione thought to be the nicest rose in the garden. It wasn't surprising that Narcissa had been so upset; the doe obviously preferred only the nicest flowers the garden had to offer.

"Do you _see _what I've been dealing with?" Narcissa demanded, coming up behind Draco and peeking over his shoulder like she expected the deer to lunge for her at any moment.

"Mother, go inside. I can handle this."

The sigh of relief that Narcissa breathed was audible from Hermione's perch on Draco's shoulder. She felt kind of bad that she'd been part of what had distracted Draco from dealing with the deer sooner. Narcissa was obviously very distraught from its presence. Maybe even more so than she appeared if she was willing to overlook the tone her son had taken with her.

Once again, Hermione and Draco found themselves in the odd position of needing to summon a god but being completely unable to do so. They both stared at the deer in silence as it consumed three roses in methodical nibbles without once glancing towards its audience.

"Do we... touch it?" Draco asked.

"Put me on the ground."

He obeyed and then watched as his partner scurried awkwardly towards the deer, still not quite used to moving herself in her lizard body.

Hermione had already learned that things were so much bigger when she was a gecko, but this idea was greatly reinforced when she stood at the bottom of the rose bush, contemplating how best to climb the thing. The deer continued to munch away, not even noticing that Hermione was so close – though deer, especially immortal ones, really didn't have much to fear from harmless geckos. Luckily, instincts Hermione hadn't known she posessed took over and she just scurried right up the thorny tendrils. Apparently her fear of heights was absent when she was so small. This was probably because Hermione was small enough that a fall probably wouldn't kill her; she'd just bounce.

Having never seen a deer up close before, even when she was full-size, Hermione was struck by how very _large _they were. Particularly striking about this deer was the size of its teeth as they made their way towards Hermione, seeming intent on biting her in half with the rose she'd chosen as her perch. Deer were _herbivores _for Merlin's sake; surely they didn't need such large, intimidating teeth.

"Wait!" Hermione shouted in her loudest voice. Even with her tiny lungs she was capable of quite a lot of sound when her life was in jeopardy.

The doe started, rearing her head back as a visible shudder raced over her entire body. Hermione wasn't sure whether the doe had something against strong magics or was just a little twitchy and startled. The doe tilted her head inquisitively as she regarded the small talking lizard. There was a good deal of intelligence shining inside the liquid black of the doe's eyes. It wasn't surprising really; Artemis was unlikely to choose an average animal as her favourite.

Hermione reached out a front leg to touch the deer's velvety snout, her eyes squeezed shut. If her eyes weren't open, then Hermione wouldn't have to watch herself change back into her normal form – at least that's the answer her brain supplied. It was _possible _that Hermione was a little concerned that the doe and her giant teeth were going to bite her leg in half and keeping her eyes closed in a childish attempt to keep bad things from happening by hiding, but that was highly unlikely.

When she started to feel absolutely ridiculous just posing awkwardly with her leg outstretched, Hermione slowly peeked open one eye and then the other.

Nothing had happened, and the doe was looking at her like she was slightly insane. In retrospect, Malfoy's muffled snickering should have been her first clue that not everything was as it should be. She retraced her arm and ignored her partner until she was back clinging to the bush with _all _of her legs.

They were going to need to try a new tactic; Hermione just wasn't sure _what _she should do. For once, books weren't going to be much help since her situation was pretty much unprecedented. For beings that seemed to live to meddle in the lives of morals, the Greek Gods were remarkably hard to summon when they were needed.

"Do you have any idea how to summon Artemis?" Hermione asked.

The doe just blinked lazily while Draco burst out laughing. "Granger, it's a _deer_. If it had the ability to summon her, don't you think it would have done so by now?"

"I don't see you coming up with anything better!"

A chuckle that did _not _come from Malfoy sounded behind the hedges just before Artemis appeared. "Calm yourselves, mortals. I've been here since you saw the doe. It's just so much fun watching you struggle, and I find so few things entertaining after living so long."

"A little sadistic," Draco muttered. The glowing goddess shot him a dirty look, but apparently she was in a good mood since she refrained from smiting him.

"For future reference," Artemis said to Hermione with much less contempt than she had directed towards Draco, "We know when we're wanted, there's no need for that summoning nonsense."

Artemis flowed over to the deer and stroked a hand down its neck. The creature preened under the attention, sidling up as close to the goddess as possible. Hermione couldn't imagine _wanting _to be involved with all the insanity that came from associating with the gods, but she supposed the poor deer didn't know any better.

Draco, as always, was determined to be confrontational even at the risk of his and Hermione's lives. "We've found your bloody deer, now would you change Granger back into herself already?"

Hermione cringed and her eyes shut involuntarily, expecting Draco to get changed into a gecko as well. His luck seemed to hold, and Artemis merely glared at him. One day he was going to pay for being so insolent to higher beings. Hermione could only hope that it didn't happen any day soon – or at least not while she was there and had to handle the fallout.

Artemis pursed her lips and looked Hermione up and down. "I suppose I could grant you this one boon since you've found my golden doe."

The transformation back to herself was just as quick as the one to the gecko had been. Hermione was a gecko and then suddenly she was back to normal again. Her much larger form promptly crushed the rosebush that had had no problem supporting a tiny gecko. Hermione yelped as hundreds of thorns lodged themselves in her skin. They pricked and picked at her clothing and skin as she tried to free herself, only worsening the damage.

Draco rushed over to help his partner, but she was struggling too much.

"Granger, just stop moving and I'll free you from the sodding plant."

She obeyed and Draco was able to lift her from the clutching and tearing thorns of the rosebush.

"Well," he said, still holding her bridal style, "I think you're going to survive, but I'm not so sure about the bush." One of Narcissa's prized rosebushes was very close to two dimensional. Hermione's thrashing had just made the whole crushing thing that much worse. If she hadn't just been nearly shredded by that same bush, Hermione would have felt bad for squishing the thing.

By the time either of them thought to look around for the goddess, Artemis and her doe had disappeared. It would have been disconcerting had they both not become used to people popping in and out of existence around them all the time.

"Glad that's over," Draco mumbled.

Hermione wriggled in his arms, ignoring the sting of her cuts. "You can put me down now."

"I don't think I will."

* * *

"Are they gone?" Narcissa asked anxiously the moment Draco and Hermione entered the Manor. Hermione didn't doubt that the woman had been peeking out the windows, worrying about her rosebushes the entire time. Hermione just didn't have the heart to break the news about the rosebush that she had climbed and then flattened. Narcissa's already anxious eyes widened when she noticed the blood on Hermione's clothes. "Are you okay Miss Granger?"

"She'll be fine mother. I've got it under control."

"I'm fine," Hermione grumbled for what felt like the millionth time since Malfoy had scooped her off of her feet, "You can put me down now."

"Nonsense, Granger. If I have to inspect every inch of your body to ensure that each and every scratch is healed, then I will."

True to his word, Draco brought her to the bathroom attached to his bedroom and looked at her expectantly, wand in hand. Hermione just stared back to him until his slightly hungry expression started to crack and become annoyed.

"This is the part where you take off your shirt."

With a mental shrug and a reminder to herself that _it's not like he hasn't seen it all before_, Hermione shrugged off her shirt, wincing when a few of her deeper cuts started to sluggishly ooze blood once more. She couldn't help thinking of the last time she'd been in Malfoy Manor, bleeding. If circumstances had been different, she wondered if Draco would have patched her up then too.

Making a valiant effort to keep his eyes from raking over her scratched but still very appealing form, Draco turned her so that her back was facing him and started healing her. Hermione had fallen flat on her back, so that was where the majority of the damage was focused. She was left to watch him in the mirror as he examined her skin with a surprisingly tender expression.

Ever so gently, Draco cast a cleaning spell to remove the drying blood.

"This is going to sting a bit," he murmured, casting a disinfecting spell. Hermione bit the inside of her lip and made a small squeak at the pain in her back, but she reminded herself that she'd experienced so much worse and was able to keep herself from unconsciously wiggling away from his wand and the pain it brought her. This was the good type of pain that led to infection-free healing, after all.

With a feather-light grip on her shoulder to keep her in place, Draco started healing her cuts. He slowly dragged his wand along each scratch, closing the skin as his wand passed over her nicks and tears. It tickled. Hermione had to use all of her willpower to stop herself from shifting away from the gentle pressure of his wand.

To her horror, she was starting to become a little hot under the collar from his attentions – or she would have if she'd been wearing a collar. Had Draco been staring at her like she was something to eat the entire time, she knew that she wouldn't have been feeling quite so aroused. It was the fact that he hadn't once touched her anywhere that wasn't completely necessary, his complete focus on healing that was driving her insane.

As he closed a particularly long scratch that started just under her ribcage, continued to the small of her back and then past the top of her trousers, Hermione found her back arching just a little more for every inch his wand traced down her skin. Draco reached the place where it disappeared under her remaining clothing and then looked up to the mirror to meet her eyes.

"You're going to have to take off the rest of your clothes." His tone wasn't nearly as suggestive as it could have been, but there was a definite glint in his eyes that said he wasn't as unaffected by this as he'd been pretending to be. Hermione was glad she wasn't the only one who was breathing a little faster than a doctor-patient situation warranted.

Not having any better options, Hermione kept her back to him as she put some space between them as she removed her trousers, revealing a few more scratches. These ones weren't as deep and could probably have been left to disappear on their own, but healing them would only take a moment, so why suffer?

Watching her in the mirror, Draco continued to trace the earlier scratch as it twisted around her hip and ended. He paused a moment and met her eyes before starting on the next one.

Hermione nearly collapsed when he healed a scratch that curled around her inner thigh. She was embarrassed that Draco had to know she was practically melting from his touch. Her breathing had picked up even further and she was trembling with the effort to stay on her feet. Had his hand and wand not been between them, she would have clenched her legs together in an attempt to relieve her body.

She caught the tiniest little smirk in the mirror and looked up to meet his knowing eyes. Heat promptly flooded her entire face. They had been intimate before, but there was something different this time in the way he was touching and looking at her. There was lust between them, but it wasn't all-consuming anymore. They'd worked off some of the sexual tension and exposed something much softer and deeper, something that neither of them had ever noticed before.

Draco finished healing the cut and deliberately brushed against her as he pulled his hand back.

Neither of them was prepared for the severity of her reaction to that little touch. Her head tipped back, her back arched once more, and her knees gave out, all at the same time. Luckily, Draco had quick reflexes and was able to catch her against himself before she fell to the floor. Pressed so tightly to him, she couldn't help but notice the hardness poking her bottom.

Hermione didn't feel any telltale twinges of pain anymore, so she assumed that she was healed.

"I think you're a little over dressed," she said breathlessly.

Draco didn't need to be told twice.

* * *

"Granger, I have something else to tell you," Draco said later, when her damp curls were resting on his sweaty chest. Both of them were still breathing a little heavily as they reclined on his bed.

He had half of her attention; the rest of it was focused on implications. She and her partner had just, for lack of a batter term, _made love_. As strange as that was to her, that was the only title that seemed to apply. It had been slow and full of tender touching and eye contact that would have normally made her uncomfortable. She wasn't sure what she wanted to do with this knowledge, so she pushed it aside for the time being.

"What is it?" she mumbled sleepily.

"I _may _have an idea where Kate is."

Hermione's brain was violently derailed from its sleepy wanderings and thrust back onto a track that was much more familiar: anger at Malfoy. "Why didn't you tell me sooner?"

"And miss this?" He dragged a hand down her back and then cupped her bottom, punctuating his point with a little squeeze. "I'm not that selfless."

"You're not selfless at all," she snapped.


	24. Chapter 24

**Chapter 24**

**A/N: Hello readers! I was going to make you wait another few days before I updated, but this week is dragging for me, so I thought I'd update because it's probably dragging for at least one of you as well. We need to break up the monotony! ... Also I'm too tired to write right now for nanowrimo like I should be. Hooray procrastination!**

**Thanks to the anonymous reviewer who pointed out my Aries/Ares mistake. I'm forever putting that i where it shouldn't be. I blame my fingers.**

**Also thanks to Irianaceleste for betaing and to all of the lovely people who reviewed.**

**~ Frosty**

Hermione pulled herself out of Malfoy's hold, glaring at him. "And how long have you known where Kate is?"

His gaze dipped down to her bare chest before darting back up to her face. Hermione was still naked, and he wasn't above angering her further just so he could watch her get all worked up at him. It was fun under normal circumstances, but when she wasn't even wearing a stitch, it was that much more appealing.

Draco ignored her glare and answered her almost lazily. "Calm down, Granger. I said I _think _I know where she is, as in I have a suspicion and I made an executive decision to keep silent until more pressing matters were handled."

Her eyes were narrowed to dangerous sits and the wand that she had snatched from the floor was giving off angry red sparks of warning. All of the nice, fuzzy feeling that had just been running through her had disappeared with the reminder that Draco would always be an arse and nothing was going to change that. Mushy thoughts and ideas that had been stealthily taking root like a fungus in dark corners of her mind suddenly shrivelled up and died.

"How long?"

He sighed. "When I found out that her maiden name was Gamp I started to suspect. The deer in the rose garden confirmed my suspicions."

Hermione actually picked up a pillow from the floor and started beating him with it, not noticing that he didn't seem to mind at all. He was actually enjoying the vigorous bouncing that was going on in her chest area. "If you had _read the file_, then we would have known this much sooner!"

"I didn't read the file and there's nothing we can do about it now. Let's just admit that the adventures resulting from my oversight have helped us grow as people and leave it at that."

An enraged screech was his only answer. For once, Hermione was actually at a loss for words, unable to come up with something scathing enough to say to him. Only a complete idiot would believe Draco's lies when delivered in such a falsely saccharine voice. She grabbed the first heavy thing that she saw, which happened to be some sort of decorative vase, and whipped it at his head.

Unfortunately, he was a slippery bastard and managed to duck out of the way, the vase shattering harmlessly on the wall. Hermione was still furious and Draco was still looking completely unruffled by her temper, watching her silently as she angrily stomped over to the ornate fireplace in the corner of his bedroom.

"I'm going to get Harry and then we're all going to go and arrest that horrible woman." She was just grabbing a handful of Floo powder when Draco decided that it might be best to intervene.

"Granger, you might want to put some clothes on, maybe even have a shower first."

His thanks for the kind suggestion was a picture frame chucked at his head and another annoyed scream. She did put her clothes on and cast a quick cleaning charm on herself though; she was upset with Draco, that didn't mean he was wrong. The cleaning charm wasn't as good as a shower, but it would have to do; she was in a hurry.

* * *

Hermione probably should have taken the time to _Scourgify _the bloodstains from her clothing. She hadn't even noticed that she was completely bare of clothing; it really was too much to ask for her to remember little details when her anger was so large and distracting.

Harry however, was all about the little details, especially when one of his best friends stumbled into his office covered in blood. The moment Harry caught sight of her state he leapt from his desk and rushed to aid her.

"What happened? What did Malfoy do?" Harry's hands wrapped around her elbows, steadying her as if she was on the verge of toppling over.

Surprised, Hermione looked down and found that the blood from her scratches had seeped into her clothing, leaving brownish red slashes across the fabric. She hadn't even noticed that she'd bled so much, though she supposed she'd been rather distracted by her arse of a partner.

"This isn't Malfoy's fault, I fell in a rosebush – long story," she added when Harry looked at her questioningly. "The git just recently informed me that he may know where Kate is and I need an Auror to be able to legally take her into custody."

"Of course," Harry said. "Just let me Floo Ron quick and then we can go get her."

Hermione used the time it took Harry to kneel down in front of the fireplace and call Ron to clean the blood out of her clothes and mend the little tears from the thorns. The reaction she got from Harry was mild compared to how she imagined Ron would react. The redhead was not only more prone to outbursts than Harry, but he was also less likely to believe her when she explained that it wasn't Draco's fault.

Only seconds after Harry emerged from the fire, Ron stumbled through, hopping as he tried to walk and put his shoe on at the same time. How he managed not to lose that shoe on the way over, Hermione didn't know.

"Where is she then?" Ron asked, looking between his two friends.

It was then that Hermione realized how out of character she'd been acting. She was forgetting important details, such as finding out where Kate _was _before dashing off to alert her friends. Draco had her more out of sorts than even she had anticipated. It was embarrassing really.

Bringing a tired hand up to rub her temple, Hermione worked to stifle the exhausted sigh that wanted to escape her. After this was over, she was going to take a nice, long vacation away from the insanity that was her life, and especially from the _cause _of all of that insanity, a certain former Slytherin. Come to think of it, she wasn't sure if she'd ever taken a vacation in her time with the Ministry. She was way past due.

"Meet me in my office in five minutes," she told her confused looking friends.

* * *

Draco was right where she'd left him, lounging in his bed. He'd acquired a pair of boxers at some point and seemed to have fallen asleep. Hermione could only assume that the boxers were in case she brought Harry and Ron back to his bedroom since he obviously had no qualms about being naked in her presence.

Still irritated with him, Hermione didn't bother with kind things like gently waking him from his slumber and politely inquiring as to where Kate was hiding.

"Malfoy!" she shouted, experiencing a malicious sense of satisfaction when he started and very nearly fell from the bed. Her glee was somewhat lessened when, instead of being irritated or at least a little distraught, Draco only yawned hugely and gave her a knowing smirk when he caught her watching the smooth movement of the muscles in his chest as he raised his arms over his head to stretch.

When she'd been seven and reading about puberty, she'd always thought that she was never going to be affected by hormones. Poor, young Hermione had been blissfully ignorant to the charms of Draco Malfoy.

"Finally realized that you don't know where you're going, did you?"

Did he have to be so smug all the time? His self assurance really grated on her nerved. _She _was supposed to be the one who knew things and he was supposed to wordlessly bow to her greater knowledge. Draco was holding all of the cards at the moment, and she didn't like it in the least.

Hermione didn't give him the satisfaction of getting upset with him all over again. "Meet me in my office in five minutes - and wear trousers."

* * *

When Hermione returned to the Ministry, she found Harry and Ron in her office, just as she'd asked. To her immense irritation, Earl and Psyche were also there. Hermione assessed the situation with a glance.

From the looks of the scene in her office, it seemed as if Earl had been stirring up trouble – again. Ron was red in the face and puffing while Harry looked slightly green. A twinge of dread made itself known as it wrapped around her stomach and squeezed, but she pushed it aside with thoughts of all of the magical creatures that were dead because of Kate.

"Whatever it is, can we just forget it until Kate's in custody?" Hermione pleaded. Just this once, maybe they'd be able to push aside whatever drama tsunami was waiting to crash over them and stay focused on the task at hand.

"Tell this barmy lizard that you'd never sleep with Malfoy!" Ron ordered.

Hermione looked to the smug lizard with an eyebrow raised. She didn't care if he _was _a god; Earl was nothing more than a glorified shit disturber – and he was so very good at it too.

What was bound to evolve into a huge, headache-inducing argument was pushed aside when Malfoy strutted into the room, looking completely unconcerned with the room full of angry glares directed towards him. Thankfully, he was wearing trousers underneath his usual leather duster.

"I think it would be wise to bring your field kits," Hermione said, trying to direct some of the tensions towards something productive. "We've underestimated this bitch before and I'd really like to give her what she deserves this time."

Hermione passed her friends and reached under her desk to grab two small backpacks, slinging one on her shoulder and sitting the other by the door. She then pulled a large knife out of a cabinet and strapped it to her thigh.

While she did this, Draco disappeared from the room, going to his own office for his sword and stakes. He picked up his backpack from where Hermione had left it when he returned. Since Harry and Ron only needed their wands, they'd been ready the entire time, free to stand there doing nothing but glaring their best glares at Malfoy.

"Where are we going?" Harry asked once everyone was ready.

Draco fished around in one of his pockets and produced what looked like a handful of marbles. "The Malfoy summer home."

Immediately, Harry and Ron's noses wrinkled in almost identical looks of distaste while Hermione's dark mood darkened even further. She hated the idea that while magical creatures had been suffering and dying, and Hermione had been searching everywhere for Kate, the woman herself had been languishing in what was sure to be a lavish and luxurious summer home. There were many things wrong with the world, but that was one of the worst things Hermione could imagine.

"Are you going to explain how you came to realize that this is where she is?" Hermione asked impatiently. The lack of information was driving her insane – she half thought Draco was doing it on purpose because he enjoyed making her squirm.

"The Malfoys and the Gamps are distantly related. Mother had one of my cousins over not so long ago, and this cousin needed a favour. The use of the Malfoy summer home was the favour, and the cousin was Kate." He turned to Harry and Ron. "Do you to understand, or do I need to use smaller words."

Hermione whacked her partner and stopped her friends from attacking with a sharp warning. "We have work to do, there's no time for childishness!"

Each of them received a marble and then looked at the blond expectantly. Even Hermione wasn't sure what she was supposed to do with the little sphere. She suspected it was some sort of Portkey, but it hadn't activated when it touched her skin and she didn't see how the Malfoys could have managed to have the Portkey office make them entire batches of timed Portkeys. Not even the Malfoys had enough money to nudge the bureaucratic nightmare that was the Ministry into doing something in a timely fashion.

Not looking pleased, Draco touched his wand to his fingertip, where a small cut opened. He then held his finger over each of the Portkeys. When his blood touched each tiny sphere, the person holding the marble was whisked away until Draco was the only one left in the office.

"I assume you two can find your own way there?" he asked the silent lizard and butterfly.

Earl nodded and then watched as Draco disappeared just like the rest of them. "Shall we, darling?"

Psyche flew over to land on his back. "After you, my love."

* * *

"I think we're in the right place," Draco said the moment the summer home was in view. His face twisted into a displeased expression at the state of the house. Apparently it didn't look quite like he'd expected it to.

"What," Hermione asked, "All of the Malfoy summer homes don't have moats, drawbridges and an outer wall fit for a fortress?"

"No, those are new." His frown deepened as he took in the heavy wooden drawbridge and near stagnant water of the moat. "She could have at least gone for a quality moat specialist. This work just screams discount."

Hermione pursed her lips, ignoring the useless parts of Draco's comment. "She's certainly not going for subtlety."

The summer home itself was entirely obscured by a huge stone wall that looked like it could withstand anything thrown at it, including powerful blasting spells. The only opening appeared to be for the drawbridge, which, as luck would have it, had been left lowered, creating a bridge across the foul-smelling moat. However, once across the drawbridge, they would still have to find a way past the sturdy-looking portcullis and the thick, wooden door that it protected.

"Malfoys are the only ones who can even get here. She doesn't need subtlety."

Psyche and Earl appeared on the ground by Ron's feet, nearly startling the redhead into the moat. Both the butterfly and the lizard pretended that they couldn't hear Ron's cursing and gravitated over to Hermione. Earl crawled up to one of Hermione's shoulders while Psyche took the other.

"There was a time once when things were made with quality," Earl said sadly, eyeing the splinters of wood jutting out from the rough boards of the drawbridge.

"There're kelpies in the moat!" Ron shouted, taking a few steps away from the water as a large black stallion surged from the moat to stand in front of him threateningly.

This was clearly no average horse. Its eyes were large and innocent-seeming, but they glowed from within with an evil intent. It shuffled its hooves and whickered gently at Ron as its mane of bulrushes continuously dripped into puddles at its large hooves. Hermione knew that its mane would never stop dripping, not even when the entire creature was dry.

"Kelpie?" Harry was confused. He had no idea what a kelpie was and was completely baffled as to how Ron had known. Ron didn't usually know things.

The redhead gave his friend a look of complete disbelief. "You were never warned to stay away from streams and rivers as a child? Mum was always yelling at us about it, said she was sure one of us would be silly enough to get on a kelpie's back."

"I was raised by Muggles, remember?"

Draco was getting impatient. His sword was already out, its flat side impatiently tapping at his thigh. "This is all very enlightening, but can we get on with the arresting?"

Two streams of water shot from the moat and materialized into two more kelpies just as large and ferocious-looking as the first. These two new additions to the gathering seemed just as impatient as Draco to start with the killing. Their lips pulled back to reveal teeth that had no place in a horse's mouth. These teeth were much sharper than a normal horse's, and just the sight of them sent chills up Hermione's spine.

"So, Hermione, how do we deal with these magical creatures?" Harry asked.

Draco raised his sword and rushed the three kelpies, not waiting for Hermione's instructions. They'd actually faced kelpies before, so he knew how to handle them without having to wait for the well of knowledge he worked with to spew her wise pointers.

Hermione didn't shout at him for his impatience or his sudden hearing loss when she called after him to wait. It wasn't that she didn't think he was perfectly capable of handling a kelpie on his own, she just didn't think he'd be able to handle _three _of them. She was going to have to help him.

"Iron," Hermione called back to her friends as she rushed after her partner, drawing her large knife as she went. "And don't touch their skin, you'll stick and they'll drown you."

Harry rushed over to Draco's abandoned backpack and fished around until he found a sword. The backpack was much larger than it appeared, and it took him a while to find what he'd been looking for. By the time Harry rushed over to join the fray, one of the kelpies was beheaded and had melted away into a puddle, one had fled back into the moat, and Hermione held the last one a knife-point.

"I know it's in your nature to drown people, but on behalf of the Ministry, I have to ask that you refrain from killing anyone," the brunette told the creature at the end of her knife. Hermione was standing between it and the water, so it really had nowhere to escape. "If you're willing to be rehabilitated, the Ministry has many pamphlets on alternative diets-"

Malfoy grabbed her around the waist and physically moved her out of the way. The kelpie immediately dove into the water and disappeared beneath the surface. "Convert them to vegetarianism later, Granger. More important matters are at hand, remember?"

Scowling at her partner, Hermione straightened her clothes and marched over the drawbridge to examine the portcullis. A few spells revealed that it wasn't going anywhere.

Hermione looked to Harry and Ron. "Do Aurors know any spells to get through warded doors that I haven't already tried?"

The two exchanged a look and shrugged. "If they do," Harry said, "We're not them."

While Hermione worked on the door, Draco had wandered off to the little strip of grass right against the castle wall and cast a few spells to get a measure of the place.

He looked over at his partner. "Are we concerned with stealth at all?"

"After that whole fight with the kelpies, she has to know we're here."

A smirk reminiscent of their school days tilted up the corner of Malfoy's lips. "Excellent."

He then let loose an impressive blasting spell that took out the wall just to the left of the door and portcullis.

"Protecting the door and not the wall," Earl said with a head shake. "A rookie mistake."


	25. Chapter 25

**Chapter 25**

**A/N: Hello readers! I think I forgot to tell you that while I was editing this story it sprouted a new chapter. There will be 29 chapters and a short epilogue. We're approaching the end; it should be finished before Christmas. I'm both sad and happy... For those of you who were wondering, I plan to take another look at This Incarnation after November and see what I can do about finishing it.**

**Thanks to everyone who reviewed (over 600!) and to irianaceleste for betaing!**

**~Frosty**

"I think you've been holding back when you tell us about your job," Ron accused as they carefully picked their way through the huge hole Draco had blasted in the wall. Harry nodded his agreement.

"You never tell us anything this interesting."

Hermione huffed and turned her nose up at the smirk Draco sent her way. "You two tune me out when I talk about my job because you always just assume that I'm going to talk about creature legislation."

"That's because you're almost always talking about creature legislation."

Her annoyed response was stalled when she finally glanced up and got her first good look at Malfoy's summer home. It had been completely obscured by the hideous stone wall before, so she wasn't in the least prepared for what the ugly wall had hidden. The place was beautiful. While the Manor was all old world elegance, the summer home was more modern with huge windows, sweeping arches on the roof, and a large front porch that held a comfortable –looking set of rocking chairs.

"It's beautiful," Hermione said. She could just picture herself curled up in one of those chairs reading a book, Draco in the other one sulking because she wasn't in bed and under him as he had planned for their vacation. Her eyes squeezed tight for a second so she could banish the products of her imagination and focus once more on reality.

Draco stepped up beside her and grinned down at her smaller form. "_This _is how it should be, elegance and clean lines, none of that splintering wood and dirty stone. It's just how I remember it – except for the zombies."

She did a double take, only then noticing the two undead creatures, both holding nastily sharp looking axes as tall as a person. It was a wonder she had missed them; they were standing on either side of the door, just to the left of the rocking chairs that Hermione had been admiring. She was really going to have to fight to keep her mind on the task at hand since it would obviously rather live in fantasy worlds than make sure she stayed alive.

"There's such thing as zombies?" Harry asked in surprise. "I thought they were just a horror movie thing."

"Don't be such a Muggle, Potter. Most of their horror movies are based off of their twisted versions of our reality."

The zombies, like the kelpies seemed content to just watch them approach. Hermione assumed that once they got close enough to the door, the creatures would attack. She had to wonder how in the world Kate had managed to convince kelpies and now zombies to risk the end of their existence just to protect her.

The wind shifted and the rotting corpse smell washed over the group, sticking to their clothing and hair as it oozed into their noses and down their throats, seeming to linger in a slick of horror throughout their lungs. Harry and Ron started gagging. Having been forewarned about the smell of zombies, Hermione and Draco were prepared and managed to keep control of their gag reflex, but it was a close thing. Draco shot the other two a smug look when Hermione wasn't looking.

"How do you kill a zombie?" Harry wondered.

Malfoy rolled his eyes. "You don't, Potter."

Once again, Malfoy took it upon himself to rush the creatures. This time though, it was with his wand bared and not his sword.

"Incinerate them," Hermione answered grimly.

"You're not going to stop him from killing helpless creatures?" Ron asked. Hermione gave the redhead a slightly sour look for his mocking tone. She didn't appreciate that her care for magical creatures was a constant amusement for her friends. There were a number of common practices in the magical world that were so obviously barbaric and wrong, and the fact that Ron so freely mocked her attempts to right those wrongs was more hurtful than she would ever let him see.

"They're already dead." She forcibly restrained herself from adding that this fact should have been obvious, determined not to sink to his level.

With that, Hermione marched over to her partner's side just as he ducked a swing from one of the zombie's huge axes. The smell was so much worse so close to the foul creatures. It felt a little like the smell was actually soaking into her pores and her sensitive eye membranes. Hermione had to blink several times to clear the resulting tears from her eyes.

The problem with zombies was that they had to be completely incinerated. If even just a hand was missed, it would continue to crawl towards its victim. That sort of attack was really more disturbing than dangerous, but it could be deadly if one wasn't careful. It was unfortunate that they had to be exterminated this way, since the smoke from their burning bodies just made the smell that much worse.

"Incoming," Earl muttered in her ear. Obediently, Hermione ducked the axe that had been aimed at her head.

She cast several incinerating spells, but the zombies were proving to be remarkably flame-retardant. Harry and Ron caught on quickly and rushed over, their own incinerating spells splitting the air in front of them. Their combined efforts were enough to overpower whatever spells that were keeping the fire from igniting the zombie's clothing and the horrible creatures finally went up in flames. Hermione was sure she was going to remember the undead groans of the burning zombies for a long time. She knew that they couldn't feel pain, but the image and the sounds they made were still disturbing.

If the zombies had smelled bad before, it was nothing in comparison to what they smelled like burning. Ron actually had to turn to the side and vomit at the smell. If she had thought it would make anything better, Hermione would have done the same. However, she knew that vomiting would just leave a foul taste in her mouth to go along with the horrors of the smell and sights. She didn't need that.

Draco, having already had too much experience with fire and burning people, got a glazed, haunted look in his eyes. Noticing this, Hermione forgot about her anger and sidled over to him to grab his hand. She knew he was really disturbed because he didn't object to the comfort even though Harry and Ron could glance away from the still-burning zombies and notice them at any moment. Hermione had never thought of Crabbe as anything other than an unintelligent goon, but Draco had held some sort of affection for the brainless goon, and she knew that Crabbe's death had affected Draco more than he wanted anyone to know.

Draco squeezed her hand back after a few moments and then pulled away from her, walking past the burning zombies and examining the door.

After the kelpies and then zombies, getting into the house was surprisingly easy. The door had been locked, but between the spells Harry and Ron knew as Aurors, Hermione's vast knowledge of unlocking spells, and Draco's ability as a Malfoy to unlock nearly every door on the property, a locking spell didn't stand a chance – at least not this one.

Hermione was by no means out of shape, but she was starting to lag from all the excitement. The raid on the shack, the goddess in the garden, changing her back into herself, the sex, the running around the Ministry and then the magical creatures at Draco's summer home were a lot to handle in one day. She couldn't imagine her partner being in much better shape, even with the quick little nap he'd managed while she'd been at the Ministry.

"Where would be the best place to hide?" Harry asked Draco.

"Probably the master bedroom, it's been reinforced with extra protections."

Harry and Ron shared a glance and then raised their eyebrows, but Draco ignored the implied questions. If the idiots couldn't figure out that, as Malfoys, his parents had wanted extra protections on the place where they slept, then Draco wasn't about to enlighten them. They could just wallow in their ignorance like they did with everything else.

As they walked through the house, Hermione admired the decor – purely to ensure that they weren't under attack, of course. She was a professional and didn't do things like absorb decorating tips while she was supposed to be working. Nope, not at all.

She really needed to catch up on all of the sleep she was missing out on; the sleep deprivation was doing strange things to her poor mind.

Draco suddenly threw out his arm, hitting Hermione in the chest as she walked into it. She _may _have been focused on trying to decide if the first edition Jane Austen book resting on the coffee table was real or a reproduction. She immediately realized her mistake; they were the Malfoys, of _course _it was real.

"Do you hear that?" he whispered. Harry and Ron, following just behind them, paused as well.

They all tilted their heads and listened, but nothing out of the ordinary sounded. The house was perfectly silent – oddly silent.

"What are we listening for?" Ron eventually asked. He fell silent again when Hermione shushed him.

They waited another few moments to see if they would hear what Draco had. No sound broke the complete silence of the house, so they continued on their way, Draco glaring at Harry and Ron's mocking looks.

A spiralling metal staircase led up to the second floor. The gaps between metal clearly showed that there was nothing on the staircase lying in wait for them, which was nice. There was nothing worse than an ambush on a staircase, Hermione knew this from experience.

As it turned out, the ambush was waiting at the _top _of the stairs.

At first glance it looked like a lion, but the fire that shot from its nostrils when it snorted ruined that image. The goat head protruding from behind the lion's head as well as the snake for a tail added to the ruined the whole lion picture.

"How do we kill this one?" Draco asked Hermione, who was looking the creature over with a critical eye.

"It's a Chimera. Shoot it from above to kill it. But I don't see how that's going to work when we're inside. The ceilings aren't high enough to fly out of reach and still be able to shoot it."

Just like they'd been doing the entire time, Ron and Harry hung back and let the professionals handle the magical creatures. While Hermione appreciated their deference to her greater experience, they could have _tried _to be a little more help with the Chimera, or at least offered their assistance. She certainly would have had the situation been reversed.

Hermione glanced up at the ceiling and then grinned. For once she was glad that the Malfoys were so fond of expensive fixtures. There was a rather large decorative chandelier at the top of the stairs, just hanging there. She quickly ran through her repertoire of spells to find something that would work and then elbowed Draco to get his attention. At his questioning look, she gestured to the chandelier with her eyes.

It was against her morals to kill something that had only been placed in front of the door to guard. Unlike the kelpies and zombies, the Chimera didn't maliciously seek to kill people. It only guarded what it was told to guard and killed those who tried to gain access to whatever it was protecting.

"Harry, Ron, I need you to distract the thing," Hermione whispered. "Watch out for its breath, both heads breathe fire and the snake is venomous."

"Wonderful," Ron grumbled.

Harry patted his shoulder. "At least it's not giant spiders again."

"Don't even job about that, mate." Ron shuddered, but he did look less apprehensive about distracting the Chimera. Compared to Aragog and his offspring, one little Chimera shouldn't be much of a challenge for the Arachnophobic redhead.

Despite his reluctance to face the creature, he and Harry rushed towards it at her nod.

While they did that, Hermione bit down on her wand to hold it in her mouth as she ran at Draco, who laced his fingers and leaned down, boosting her up so that she could catch hold of the chandelier. Hermione's fingers slipped a little when she grabbed hold of the wrought iron bar closest to her, but she managed to keep hold of it. In a surprisingly coordinated move, Hermione used the momentum of her jump to swing the rest of her body up into the light fixture. She snatched her wand from her mouth and fired a series of spells at the Chimera while it snapped, hissed, and growled at Harry and Ron as they provoked it with loud noises and bright but harmless spells. The first few spells she fired missed because it was moving around so much as it tried to bite Harry and Ron with its lion head and snake tail, but she finally managed to hit it.

The snake tail was the first thing to show the effects of the heavy sleeping spell that Hermione had used. Its yellow eyes started to droop as its scaly body wilted to the floor. The other two heads weren't far behind, their blinks getting longer and longer until the eyes just stayed closed and then the whole creature sagged and fell to the floor with a thud.

"Hermione, that was amazing!" Harry exclaimed, looking from the unconscious Chimera to his dangling friend and then settling on the Chimera.

Hermione flashed her friend a quick, absent smile. Most of her attention was focused on trying to get down from the bloody chandelier. It was swaying dangerously as she tried to dislodge herself without landing on her arse. She was lucky it had been so firmly anchored to the ceiling; landing on her arse and then having the heavy light fixture landing on top of her would be very painful. She certainly hoped that magic may have been involved in the anchoring of the chandelier.

Harry and Ron were occupied with poking at the unconscious Chimera, so it was only Malfoy who noticed her struggles – and he was enjoying it greatly. Instead of offering to help, Draco just stood there, arms crossed and a big grin on his face while he watched her flail and shift around, trying to right herself.

"You're going to fall down."

Hermione glared while he moved closer, presumably to get a better look at her embarrassment. "You could help me."

"No, I think I'm good here."

She tried to untangle her legs from the iron branches of the light fixture and then lower herself to the floor, but one of her legs stuck and she ended up tumbling towards the ground. Hermione let out a screech and squeezed her eyes tightly shut, preparing for the impact.

The pain she expected never came. She thumped against something solid and warm – something she had a feeling was going to be insufferable about the fact that he had saved her from splattering on the floor.

"All right there, Granger?"

She cracked open an eye to see that Malfoy was holding her in his arms and smirking down at her.

"Shut up," she grumbled.

"Are you two quite finished making eyes at each other?" Earl asked, still perched on Hermione's shoulder. Somehow he had clung there for her entire chandelier adventure. Psyche, obviously the one with the sense, had flown off to watch events unfold from the safety of a curtain rod. "We've got work to do."

Draco abruptly let go of Hermione, leaving her to catch herself before she fell to the ground. She managed it, but not before she did some very ungraceful stumbling.

"Prat."

The Chimera had been guarding a door. Hermione ignored her partner's amused expression and went to investigate, hoping that Kate had been the highly important thing that the Chimera had been guarding. If it was another rare creature house in horrible conditions, Hermione wasn't sure she'd be able to stop herself from snapping.

Unlike the previous door, this one wasn't so quick to open. All four of them cast every spell they could think of and Draco even went as far as to prick his finger and smear the blood on the wood, something that was supposed to unlock any door on any of the Malfoy properties, but nothing worked.

"What are we supposed to do now?" Ron demanded.

Earl uncoiled on Hermione shoulder and scurried down her body. "I think I'm finally going to prove how useful I can be."

As he'd demonstrated before, Earl had no problem walking right through human magic. He just walked through the door like there was nothing there at all. Those waiting on the other side heard a click and then the wood swung open to reveal one very smug lizard... god. "You can praise me now."

Draco stepped right over Earl and into the room beyond. "I'll pass."

Harry and Ron were next, both of them ignoring Earl completely.

Sulking, Earl climbed Hermione to rest on her shoulder once more. He rested his chin on his folded feet and sighed, suddenly morose.

"Men and their egos," Psyche said, alighting on Hermione's other shoulder. Hermione nodded her agreement and followed them into the room.

Kate was there, huddled in a corner and staring at them with overly large eyes. Kate had seemed like some kind of super villain before, and Hermione had built her up to something huge and horrible in her mind, so it was jarring to see her reduced to something so small and scared looking.

"I'd be upset too if I had to go through the Chimera every time I wanted to get something to eat," Ron muttered to Harry. He probably hadn't intended for everyone to hear him, but he'd always struggled with everyday things like volume control and tact.

"Wait," Psyche murmured in Hermione's ear. "Something's not right."


	26. Chapter 26

**Chapter 26**

**A/N: Hello readers! I've been crazy busy and sleep deprived between nanowrimo and my job, so there may be a few things I missed in this chapter when I was reading it over a final time. Words are hard.**

**Anyway, thanks for the reviews and also thanks to irianaceleste for betaing!**

**~Frosty**

Hermione knew as soon as she stepped into the room that Psyche had been correct in announcing that something wasn't right. The feel of the air was off; it was practically thrumming with a static electricity that almost seemed to pull the group further into the room.

Since she was following after the boys, Hermione couldn't see much of the room around the mass of their combined forms. What she could see were grey walls, elaborate crown moulding, and an abnormally large, four posted bed taking up a good portion of the large room.

"Took you long enough," someone huffed from behind Hermione.

Kate uncurled from her cramped position between the bed and the far wall just as Hermione finally cleared the doorway and the door slammed behind her with a loud thud. Her charade of helplessness was no longer needed now that her accomplice had revealed herself. With their attention directed elsewhere, Kate was free to lean back and watch the scene unfold in front of her.

"I've been waiting _forever_ for Artemis' incompetent little team to defeat the creatures I gathered here." The mystery woman unfolded herself from a chair that had previously been hidden from view by the open door. She twisted her pouty lips into a fake smile. "For a while there, I was worried that you weren't going to be able to find us and my fun would be ruined."

In her mind, Hermione groaned. This beautiful, regal woman was clearly a goddess. She had an air of power about her that was undoubtedly divine. Hermione could even make a pretty good guess as to which goddess this was just from the way the woman held herself and her knowledge of mythology.

Harry gave Hermione a sharp look that clearly said she was going to have some explaining to do later. She nodded to show that she understood, thankful that Harry was smart and knew that this was neither the time nor the place to have that conversation.

Kate paced over to stand beside the goddess, smiling mockingly at the confused gathering. For someone who had been so perky before, she was certainly skilled at being malicious. "Did you actually think I was beaten so easily?"

Not looking pleased that her little monologue had been interrupted, the goddess flicked a finger at the mortal woman. Kate clutched at her throat and glared, making indignant squeaks as her voice failed her.

When Kate realized that she wasn't going to be able to have her say anytime soon, she walked over to the bed, as far away from the goddess as she could get. Perching on the edge of the mattress, Kate crossed her arms and sulked, shooting nasty looks towards the goddess.

"As I was _saying_," the goddess continued, "I've been waiting for you for days with nothing but this annoying woman for company. She's always whining about her dead husband like she thinks I _care_. I've never understood mortal devotion to one man when there are so _many _of them out there to enjoy."

Psyche transformed back into her human form, making Harry and Ron shift to the side so that she had room to stand beside Hermione without batting anyone with her giant wings. Her human form really wasn't the most convenient in enclosed spaces. Ron and Harry stared at Psyche for a moment, but their eyes were quickly drawn back to the threat. They were very confused, but they were professionals.

The goddess gave Psyche a very nasty glare, looking like she would dearly like to smite Psyche right off the face of the earth. Psyche, who Hermione had come to think of as soft spoken and kind, seemed to have an inner strength that went against her nature. Her shoulders were squared and her back straight as she met the goddess' stare head-on.

"Psyche," the goddess sneered, "I assume that you've become attached to these mortals?" Psyche didn't show any indication that she had heard, but that didn't seem to matter. "All the more reason for me to destroy them. Painfully."

"Leave them alone, Mother," Earl said as his wife plucked him from Hermione's shoulder and placed him on her own.

Aphrodite looked down her nose at her reptilian son. "What have you done to yourself?" She swished a hand through the air before Eros had time to answer her. "Never mind, I don't want to know. I won't harm your humans unless they get in my way... or annoy me."

"Mother, _every _mortal you're not bedding annoys you!"

She raised a beautifully shaped eyebrow. "Then you better hope that Artemis shows up soon or they may not survive."

While the lizard and his mother engaged in a staring contest, Hermione took a chance to glance around the room, wondering how everyone else was reacting to this strange turn of events. Draco just looked annoyed and slightly bored, which was a tad worrying since he had a tendency to instigate arguments with those around him when he was bored. This could be a problem if he got _too _bored, which would be dangerous with an angry goddess on the room, but Hermione could tell he wasn't quite bored enough to risk angering Aphrodite yet.

On the off chance that she had misread her partner, Hermione pushed him to the side and stood slightly in front of him so that she could more easily elbow him should he let his sharp tongue have free reign. This move was doubly helpful because she could more easily see what was happening in the room without Draco's tall form blocking her view.

Harry had his hand on his wand, attentively watching every movement of Aphrodite and Kate, waiting for either of them to attack. Ron though, Ron was staring at Aphrodite, his eyes large and unblinking. This wasn't really surprising considering the goddess of beauty and pleasure had more pull over mortals than any Veela ever could, and Ron had already proved that he was susceptible to that kind of thing. It probably helped that the pale pink toga the goddess was wearing was partially transparent, leaving absolutely nothing to the imagination.

"Artemis shows – Mother is this still about the whole death of Adonis debacle? You know Artemis had reason to kill Adonis. The boy was as vain as Narcissus and as hubristic as any hero without the skills to back up his inflated head. He had it coming to him."

Aphrodite stomped her foot. "She killed one of my favourite lovers and I will not overlook such a thing."

"It's not like you don't have hundreds more! Besides, you killed Hippolytus in retaliation."

The far wall featured a very large window. Hermione would have noticed it sooner, but she'd been kind of distracted by the bickering gods and super villains-in-training that had been occupying the room when she'd entered, not to mention Draco had been in the way at first. The windows probably would have remained a beautiful but unnoticed part of the room had they not started to glow. Hermione watched them suspiciously, wondering what was happening as the glow increased in intensity. She glanced at the others in the room, but everyone else seemed to be occupied with the argument happening between Eros and his mother.

Hermione's suspicions of supernatural activity were proven correct when the glowing windows became even stranger. A ripple started in the middle of the center pane and spread to the rest of the windows, getting more and more frequent until the entire thing was a waving mass. Just when it looked like the window couldn't possibly hold any more ripples, a figure stepped out of the undulating glass, leaving the window smooth and still once more.

Aphrodite stopped midsentence and turned to stare at her rival, her sparkling, white teeth bared in a snarl that should not have been attractive, but was.

"You know," Artemis said, looking Aphrodite up and down, "From this angle, you can barely tell that you're just a severed penis that fell into the ocean and became all kinds of trouble."

If the beautiful Aphrodite's followers could see her then, face transformed into a mask of rage, fingers curled into claws, and ready to pounce, Hermione doubted that they'd be quite so devoted to the goddess knowing that she possessed this other side. Aphrodite was so furious that sparks fell from her fingers and her ebony hair nearly burst from the intricate twist that kept it orderly. "And _you're _just an unattractive female who swore chastity and started acting like a man because she wasn't good enough to _attract _one!"

An arm wrapped around Hermione's waist and tugged her back a few steps. Knowing who it was, she allowed him to pull her, only looking back questioningly once he had her back a few feet, right up against the wall beside the door. She heard a clicking sound and knew that Draco was trying the doorknob behind his back. From his irritated expression, she also knew that the doorknob wasn't working.

"This is rapidly descending into a cat fight," he murmured in response to her look, "In my experience, it's best to be as far away as possible – and my experience is just with mortals, goddesses are so much worse."

Harry and Ron took the hint and backed away as well, while Psyche put herself between the quarrelling goddesses and her mortal friends.

Normally Hermione and her friends would have objected to a civilian putting herself between them and danger, but Psyche was immortal and much more equipped to dealing with angry deities, so none of them said anything. Besides, she had Eros on her shoulder, and he had been dealing with his mother for his entire life. Hermione was sure he knew how to keep himself out of harm's way.

"That _might _have been offensive if your chosen method of self-defence wasn't _seduction_," Artemis sneered. "I've had men vow chastity just to keep my company. No one's ever done something like that for you because without physical pleasures, you're worth _nothing_."

That was all it took. Aphrodite launched herself at the other goddess, screeching a primal war cry. Artemis was less passionate with her charge, but she had a glowing silver blade in her hand and she obviously had more combat experience from the way she held herself.

Aphrodite grabbed a handful of Artemis' hair and yanked hard, but Artemis retaliated by stabbing the other goddess in the stomach with her knife. Hermione knew that Artemis wasn't going to be able to kill the other immortal, but she still cringed at the pained screech that Aphrodite made.

The crackling feeling of power built in the room until it was pressing at Hermione's skin. It made her feel battered and bruised without even moving her. She stated to worry that the immortal catfight was going to actually kill her.

"LADIES!" Earl boomed, using that strange controlling tone he sometimes employed to manipulate Hermione and Draco. It seemed to work on the goddesses, but to a lesser extent. "Take this battle somewhere else. There're mortals present, and you two are prime examples of what happens when you kill mortals that aren't yours to kill."

Aphrodite didn't look like she cared in the least if she injured a mortal, but Artemis glanced at Hermione quickly, nodded and then grabbed Aphrodite by the front of her toga and threw the other goddess through the suddenly rippling windows. Artemis followed quickly after, her knife once again raised.

Kate rushed after them, but the windows were once again solid and her fists banged fruitlessly against the magically strengthened glass. "You promised me revenge against that hunting bitch!"

Suddenly back in a situation they had been trained for, Harry and Ron rushed forwards to apprehend the criminal. Kate continued to screech about avenging her dead husband while they magically bound her arms behind her back and relieved the screaming woman of her wand.

"Well, that was fun," Earl said, his tone upbeat enough that Hermione wasn't sure if he was being genuine or sarcastic. She was a little concerned that he was being genuine. One would think that the gods would tire of all of their drama after the first few millennia, but apparently they were still going strong and enjoying it.

"I _will _get revenge," Kate spat, looking positively deranged. "She sent a boar to kill my husband, just like she killed Aphrodite's love."

Earl shook his head. "_Lover_, not love. It's an important distinction."

"Are you sure he wasn't just in the wrong place at the wrong time and came across a boar?" Hermione asked carefully, not sure why Artemis would bother killing a mortal long after people had stopped boasting that they were better than the gods. Maybe he had happened across Artemis bathing? Hermione somehow doubted that.

"He wasn't _in the wrong place_, that boar attacked him!"

Draco, thoroughly bored with the entire situation, rolled his eyes. "If he was out in the wild hunting boars, then it's not that much of a surprise that a boar killed him. Honestly, I think it has a certain sense of poetry to it that he was killed by a boar while hunting them. The boar was probably doing him a favour considering it was you he had to go home to every n-"

Hermione elbowed her partner in the ribs to stop his words. He'd crossed so far over the line that he probably wouldn't be able to see it anymore. She could tell by the shocked and furious expression on Kate's face that Draco had been right in his assumptions about her husband. The man had been out in the forest hunting boars when one of them had killed him. It was horrible, but Hermione doubted that Artemis had anything to do with the incident. A horrible accident was most likely what had killed Kate's husband, not the interference of a goddess.

"I'm so confused," Ron grumbled.

"It's easy," Hermione said impatiently, "Adonis, Aphrodite's beautiful lover, boasted that he was a better hunter than Artemis, so she sent a boar to kill him. In retaliation, Aphrodite killed Hippolytus, one of the few men Artemis actually liked. He was a favourite of hers because not only did he dislike Aphrodite, but he gave up physical pleasures to focus on hunting."

Ron rubbed his temples. "I'm pretty sure I'm going to have to add some new boxes to the standard arrest form for this one."

"You have so much explaining to do," Harry said to Hermione. Even worse than angry, he looked _disappointed _in her like she was some misbehaving child keeping secrets from a parent.

Gravely, Hermione nodded.

Wanting to stay for an explanation but too professional for that, Harry pushed Kate out of the suddenly unlocked door, on his way to the fireplace on the main floor. Still looking confused and muttering about paperwork, Ron followed after them.

"This is where we part ways," Psyche said sadly. "We've accomplished everything we were supposed to."

"And we don't plan on leaving the bedroom for a very long time now that we're done with this whole Kate thing," Earl added.

Psyche suddenly rushed forward and hugged Hermione tightly. "I know it's not proper goddess behaviour to hug mortals, but I was born a mortal and some habits are hard to break."

Laughing, Hermione patted the other woman between the butterfly wings and then pulled away. As Psyche went on to offer Draco a hand so that he could give it a kiss like the gentleman his mother raised him to be, Earl climbed into Hermione's palm and looked at her with a tilted head.

"You need to forgive him and make a move. He's not going to get his head out of his arse anytime soon."

"I'll try," she said with a smile.

"Don't make me come back here and set things right." Earl then hopped over to Draco and bit the blond's ear, apparently unhappy that another man had kissed Psyche – even if it had been just the back of her hand.

Once the goodbyes were finished, Earl and Psyche disappeared.

* * *

"You're really going to ignore me?" Draco demanded.

They had managed to get the Chimera back to the Ministry without any problems, but they weren't exactly sure where it was going to live. While magical creatures all had a special place in Hermione's heart, the Ministry had a slightly different view of dangerous specimens; namely, it was frowned upon to bring them back to the Ministry and shelter them as one would with a stray cat in their own home. Until something could be worked out for the poor creature, Hermione and Draco made an agreement with the Unspeakables. In return for allowing them to study it – unobtrusively, of course – the Unspeakables agreed to house the Chimera.

"I'm not ignoring you, I just... If you had just read the bloody file, we could have stopped her so much sooner." It didn't even have to be the whole file; information such as her maiden name was listed on the first page. He would have only had to open the file and _glance _at the first page and so much trouble could have been saved. Hermione knew that she should be focusing on the good, the fact that they had finally caught Kate and put an end to her crimes, but she just couldn't.

Draco was tired of this line of discussion. They'd already said the same words to each other frequently enough that he was thoroughly frustrated with the whole conversation. "Well I didn't and so we couldn't have. You're going to have to get over it."

"Just give me some time," she said tiredly. Once again she rubbed a hand over her face in an attempt to ward off the sleep that was determined to take her. "I'm going to go home and sleep for a long time. I have a feeling I'll be much more forgiving when I get back to work."

"Fine," he snapped. "Just know that I'm not going to grovel. It's because of me that we found the bloody bitch and I refuse to forget about that just because you're upset that it didn't happen sooner."

Hermione was actually stung a little by the harshness of his words. He was talking to her like she was one of the many people that he didn't like, something he hadn't done in a long time. She'd forgotten how biting his tone could be when he wanted it to be.

"Fine," she echoed.

Once the Chimera was delivered, they parted ways in silence, both of them going their separate ways.

Instead of going home to her bed like her partner undoubtedly did, Hermione comforted herself with something that could keep her busy. Paperwork was much better than lying awake in her bed and staring at the ceiling in the dark. She hated that she was on the outs with her partner, but at the same time she just couldn't bring herself to forgive him.

When Harry and Ron entered her office, she was completely unsurprised. They had probably made sure Kate was in custody and then immediately come to find her. Had the situation been reversed, Hermione certainly wouldn't have wasted any time in demanding answers from them.

Looking gravely serious, Harry and Ron seated themselves in the chairs opposite her desk. She knew that they didn't intend it that way, but she felt a little cornered under their heavy stare. It was probably her guilt making her feel that way since she knew they didn't mean her any harm.

Harry was the one who spoke first. "Hermione, I don't know much about mythology, but I know enough to suspect that those were goddesses in that room with Kate and you and Malfoy didn't seem surprised."

Her mouth was open to answer them. She wasn't sure what she planned on saying, but it was going to be logical and convincing, she was sure of it. Before her convincing words could leave her lips, something strange happened. The bleeding heart plant that still grew from the corner of her desk started to glow. One of the heart flowers separated from the rest of the plant and floated to the ceiling, hovering there. The rest of the flowers detached themselves and followed the other one gathering in a little swarm of flowers above Harry and Ron.

"Does this sort of thing happen frequently?" Harry asked, his wand out, but he was clearly unsure if he even needed the thing.

"What's going on?" Ron asked. He was less cautious than Harry and shooting some incinerating spells at the hovering cloud of flowers. The flowers dodged the spells, which continued on to leave singe marks on the ceiling.

Hermione watched the flowers warily. "I don't know, but I doubt it will be pleasant."

Just as she finished speaking, the flowers burst into a shower of golden glitter that covered everything in the room. Completely unprepared for the strange attack, Hermione somehow inhaled a mouthful of the stuff. It was oddly sweet, like sugar crystals.

Harry and Ron seemed to have had a different reaction to the odd sparkling substance than Hermione. They were both fast asleep, apparently not caring that their mouths were full of the glitter.

Baffled, Hermione tried to banish the glitter, only to find that it was magic resistant. She could make small portions of it disappear, but she was probably going to have to clean her entire office by hand to be rid of the glitter.

Something on her desk caught her attention. It appeared to be a pair of lacy gold knickers; they were the exact same shade as the glitter that coated her office. Hermione's eyes narrowed when she saw that there was a note resting on top of the knickers. It read:

_They're not going to remember anything when they wake up. Let it stay that way._

That was remarkably little information. Hermione flipped over the paper and rolled her eyes. _There _was the type of message that she'd been expecting.

_I suggest that you use this newfound free time by paying a visit to that partner of yours. These lovely little things are edible knickers - you mortals are so clever sometimes. Wear these when you visit him, your fighting is ridiculous. Don't make me come down there._

Hermione sighed, crumpled the note, and chucked it in the rubbish bin. They were closely followed by the ridiculous knickers. Why anyone would want to consume knickers was beyond her.

She conjured blankets for her friends and set about cleaning her office the Muggle way, hoping that she was finally done with the gods.


	27. Chapter 27

**Chapter 27**

**A/N: Hello readers! I have a question for you: Should I change the rating of this story to M? I had someone asking if edible underwear were a real thing and feel a little bit like I'm corrupting the innocent. Thoughts?**

**As always, thanks to everyone who reviewed and to irianaceleste for spending her spare time fixing my mistakes. **

**Only two chapters and the epilogue left! I'll be sad to see this story go.**

**To yay: Yes, Aphrodite is a fan of love, but she wasn't all that sparing with her affections. She constantly cheated on her own husband, and I always pictured her as someone who couldn't quite understand women that stayed devoted to their husbands.**

**Side note: This chapter will put me over 800 000 words archived here. So MANY.**

**~Frosty**

Come Wednesday, Hermione and Draco still hadn't spoken. While this had given Hermione plenty of time to nearly complete the mountain of paperwork that always seemed to reside on her desk, she was starting to feel lonely. If Hermione was being completely honest with herself, she would admit that she was missing her partner. Luckily, she was so entrenched in denial that she'd managed to convince herself that she wasn't missing Draco in the least, and that the hollow feeling in her chest was just loneliness from lack of human contact. She had, after all, been spending an awfully large portion of her time cooped up in her office.

Hermione sighed and filled out another line on her parchment, half wishing that someone would burst in, complain about beverage slaves, and drag her away from her paperwork. Sadly, there wasn't a chance of that happening. Their little spat had been blown way out of proportion, but she had too much pride to be the first one to apologise. Unfortunately, Draco was the same way. They were stuck at an impasse and neither was willing to mend the bridge.

She looked up from her paperwork to see Harry leaning in the open doorway. "You've locked yourself up in your office," he observed.

"I've done no such thing. It's just that there's so much paperwork that needs to be done."

Harry sighed and entered the office, taking a seat across from her. "Hermione, I'm no expert, but I can see that you and Malfoy have had some kind of fight. You've locked yourself in your office and he's taken to terrorizing the Auror trainees with duelling and occasionally sparring matches."

Poor trainees. Draco had never been one to pull his punches, especially when he was in a foul mood. She could imagine that many of the trainees had bruises that could be traced back to her angry partner.

"It's nothing, Harry." She tried to continue filling out the form she'd been working on before she was interrupted, but Harry's eyes were burning holes into the top of her downturned head. She was forced to look up once more to meet his stare. "Is there something you need?"

"You really are sleeping with him, aren't you?"

Completely unprepared for this line of questioning, Hermione blanched and stuttered out the first thing that came to mind. "Where did you get that idea?"

She tried for indignant, but knew that she wasn't fooling anyone, especially not someone who knew her as well as Harry did.

"You two aren't acting like a pair of miffed partners giving each other the silent treatment, you're both acting more like this is some sort of lover's spat. I didn't think Earl had been telling the truth until I noticed how you two act around each other."

Her shoulders sagged towards the desk in defeat. "Yes, I slept with him."

Harry looked like a child who had just opened his lunchbox only to discover something slimy crawling around in there. It was a mixture of disappointment and disgust.

After that initial reaction, he managed to mould his expression into something less condemning and judgmental. Harry reminded himself that Hermione was an adult and perfectly capable of making her own choices, even if they were disturbing ones. Malfoy obviously cared for her in his own twisted way, and Harry wasn't going to lose his friend just because he was too petty to be able to accept that Malfoy could change.

"As long as he treats you right and you swear never to mention even the tiniest detail, I promise never to bring it up again."

She nodded, letting out the breath she'd been holding in anticipation of his reaction. "Deal."

"Ron might be a different story though."

Unconsciously, Hermione's face wrinkled up in distaste at the idea of the verbal battle that would ensue when Ron's suspicions that she'd been sleeping with her partner were confirmed. She didn't pull her punches when she argued and neither did Ron, so their fights were usually pretty spectacular.

"Where _is_ Ron?"

Harry looked slightly uncomfortable. "It was his turn to train the Auror trainees today, but when he found Malfoy there, he challenged him to a duel. I left before they had finished, but the trainees were very scared, and I think Malfoy was winning."

"You probably should have opened with that information," Hermione said with a scowl. She stood up and grabbed her wand, intent on going to break up the children's squabble, but Harry stopped her with a shake of his head.

"Let them get it out of their system. I think it'll do some good to work off the animosity in a controlled environment."

One of her eyebrows raised in an unconscious imitation of her partner, making Harry wonder how he'd gone so long without figuring out who Hermione's partner was. It was obvious once he put all the pieces together and was no longer blinded by the disbelief that Hermione would never be partnered with Malfoy. The two had come to acquire each other's mannerisms.

"Since when are you a psychiatrist?"

Harry reddened slightly and mumbled, "We had to go to a conflict resolution seminar a few months ago."

She didn't even want to know why the Auror department had needed a conflict resolution seminar, she really didn't. It wasn't her problem. She was _so _tempted to ask though.

To distract herself, Hermione hurried out of the room. She had a room full of poor, impressionable Auror trainees to rescue from her brute of a partner and her temperamental friend.

Harry was giving her a look, one she'd seen before. He was turning over the idea of telling her something that would upset her but that she should probably know. He'd given her the same look all throughout their school career.

"What is it?" she asked with a sigh. Hermione had a feeling that this was the real reason for his visit, and everything else had been just to stall.

"It's about Kate..."

Hermione stomach dropped. Kate had been sent to Azkaban as soon as Harry and Ron brought her to the Ministry. The list of crimes against her had been enough to send her away for a very long time even without a trial. At Hermione's insistence, they had been fair and given the horrible woman a proper trial, listing all of her actions in front of the Wizengamot – leaving out all of the details related to the gods, of course. Kate was facing multiple life sentences in Azkaban. Hermione couldn't imagine what about Kate would make Harry look so grim. Unless...

"She seems to have escaped."

"_What_?" Harry winced as Hermione reached a pitch that grated on his eardrums. She tended to do that when completely blindsided by unpleasant news.

Immediately, the brunette increased her already quick pace. Harry followed after her as she strode purposefully towards the Auror training room.

When Harry had said that the trainees were terrified of Ron and Draco as they duelled, he hadn't been kidding. The poor young people were all huddled in a tight group behind a shield charm, watching as Draco and Ron flung impressively powerful and destructive spells at each other. One didn't go through a war without learning and perfecting one's duelling spells, and those two had been forced to learn well.

Despite the danger, Hermione strode into the centre of the room. She could feel the trainees staring at her with a mixture of horror and admiration as she ducked Draco's spell and then deflected Ron's.

"There are more important things than this ridiculous pissing contest that the two of you have going."

In an unconscious echo of Hermione's earlier gesture, Draco raised an eyebrow, making Harry shift uncomfortably at the similarities between the partners. It was creepy to see someone he cared about borrowing the expressions of someone so... _Malfoy_.

"And what, exactly is so important that you've decided to break days of silence just to tell me about it?" the blond asked. He hadn't lowered his wand; it remained trained on the redhead while Draco addressed his partner. He wasn't going to stop the battle he'd been enjoying just because Granger objected to it.

Hermione shot a glance at the rapt trainees. Fresh out of Hogwarts and they were all dying to witness some drama between the war heroes that they'd heard so much about for much of their lives. "Let's take this somewhere more private."

Her tone brooked no argument, but Hermione still expected Draco to make an objection just to make a nuisance of himself after being ignored for so long. He really didn't take well to being ignored.

When no arguments or objections came, Hermione led the way out of the room and back to her office. From the muffled grunts and thumps behind her, she was willing to be that Draco and Ron were shoving each other as they walked through the corridors. Children. She was working with children.

"What was so important that you couldn't let me finish off the Weasel?" Draco demanded the second that her door was safely shut.

Hermione looked to Harry to explain.

"Kate seems to have escaped from Azkaban."

Draco's reaction wasn't what any of them had been expecting. Ron and Harry had expected a sarcastic remark, while Hermione, knowing him better, expected a string of profanities and then a disparaging comment about the Ministry's ability to keep prisoners behind bars before he went for his sword and suggested that they find her themselves. Draco's actual reaction was an expression of surprise and then a frown of realization. It was wiped away so quickly that Harry and Ron hadn't noticed it, but Hermione certainly had, and she wanted to know what it meant.

"This isn't the first time that Azkaban has failed to hold someone," Draco drawled. "Are you Aurors here to beg us to do your job for you and find her?" It was a half-arsed attempt at snark by Draco's standards; the words hadn't really been cutting at all. Ron though, wasn't difficult to rile and he'd already been upset with the blond for nearly beating him in their duel before Hermione had jumped between them.

"No one's asking you to go after her. You probably wouldn't be able to find her even if you went looking!"

Draco looked entirely uninterested in Ron's attempt at engaging him in an argument. "I'm hurt, Weasley, that cut deep."

Thankfully, Hermione managed to stop their argument before it degraded to the exchange of blows. All it took was a well placed glare and a few stinging spells as she reminded them all that they weren't gathered in her office to bicker like schoolchildren. She probably would have been a good professor had she not been doing what she had always wanted to do at the Ministry.

After Ron cast a few dirty looks towards Draco, Harry and Ron left her office with the promise that they'd personally be hunting for Kate.

Draco took his usual chair and lounged there, his feet up on her desk and his arms folded behind his head, looking the picture of relaxation. One would think that he was used to Hermione burning with curiosity while starting at him suspiciously.

"What aren't you telling me?" she asked after closing the door behind her friends.

"Are we suddenly on speaking terms again?"

She dearly wanted to stomp her foot in frustration but knew that he would mock her endlessly if she did. "Just tell me what it is that you're keeping from me."

His eyes held the amusement that he so carefully kept from leaking onto his face. The git knew she was only seconds away from stomping her foot like a five year old and was relishing his ability to rile her so thoroughly.

"I _may _know where Kate is." Hermione was ready to start yelling at him for once again withholding important information, but he gave her an annoyed look that kept her silent."And before you start harping at me, it didn't even occur to me that it could be her until just now when Potter informed me that she'd escaped." Besides that, he was still sour with Hermione for giving him the cold shoulder over his failure to read the file that could have had Kate in custody sooner. He wasn't exactly the type to chatter about strange occurrences in his life with someone who refused to speak to him.

"Where is she then?" For the sake of finding Kate, Hermione ignored the argument Draco was inviting by calling her a harpy.

"Come with me."

* * *

"Is this some kind of sad attempt at getting me into your bed again?"

Draco rolled his eyes at her. "No, if I were trying to get you into my bed, you would _be _in my bed. My bedroom just happens to be the closest fireplace to the back gardens."

She bristled at the implication that she was easy enough to jump in his bed at his beck and call, but then she remembered the supply closet incident. She kind of had been easy then, so she couldn't really get mad at him for that.

"Where's Kate then?"

Imperiously, Draco made a beckoning gesture and left the room without waiting to see if she would follow him. His self-assurance was annoying but warranted in this case. He knew she was entirely driven by her curiosity at the moment and would be willing to put up with more shite than usual just to satisfy it.

Hermione followed him out to the rose garden, completely baffled as to why they were going there. An escaped convict would want to hide somewhere where they wouldn't be found, and the home of one of the people who put her away just didn't seem like the logical choice.

The bush that Hermione had crushed was gone and a new little sprout of a rosebush was in its place. Narcissa worked fast. Hermione hoped that her partner's mother wasn't mad at her for wrecking one of her prized plants. It wasn't the bush that held Draco's attention though, he moved through the garden to the fountain in the middle where there seemed to be a new statue.

"This appeared last night," he said. "When the moon hit the water of the fountain, it changed to letters that said 'An improvement for your garden as thanks for sheltering my doe'. I just thought it was a statue, but look at its face."

The statue looked very lifelike, almost as if it could move at any second. The woman wore a long, flowing dress that fell in waves right down to the water. Her hair did the same. It was the expression on her face that was strange, the horror there at odds with the serenity and grace of the rest of the piece. Draco was right; the face did look a lot like Kate.

"Artemis never did like it when people threatened her wildlife," said an approving voice. Hermione and Draco turned to see Psyche walk into the garden. She was in her stunning human form with her crimson wings fluttering behind her. For once Earl wasn't on her shoulder.

"That is Kate then?" Hermione asked. It never hurt to be positive; she'd hate to wake up one night to find a vengeful Kate standing over her bed. Being so prominent in the magical community, Hermione already had more than enough enemies who disagreed with her beliefs or blood and wanted her dead. She didn't need any _more _people out to get her.

"Yes," Psyche glided over to the base of the fountain and looked up at the stone figure. "I broke her out of the prison myself. Artemis wanted to have her forever stuck in that prison uniform, but I convinced her that the only people the ugly uniform would punish would be those forced to look at it." She seemed to shake herself out of her musing and turned her eyes back to the waiting pair. "I've come to warn you two that Eros is in one of his moods again. He's up to no good and looking to visit some of his favourite mortals."

"Thank you for the warning," Hermione said formally. It was nice to have been forewarned, but she wasn't sure what she was supposed to do with the information. Eros was a god; he'd do whatever he wanted and knowing ahead of time that he was up to something wasn't going to do a damned thing to stop him.

Psyche nodded, glancing around suspiciously like she expected her husband to appear at any second. She apologised for having to rush off before disappearing just as quickly as she had come. Apparently Eros was in quite the mood to have his wife so edgy.

"How are we going to explain to boy wonder that we've found his escaped convict and she's in my garden, but it's okay because she's as good as dead?" Draco asked once Psyche had disappeared.

"Give me some time to think on it. Maybe I'll be able to come up with something believable." It was wishful thinking and she knew it. She could already see how well _that _conversation was probably going to go.

Breaking her contemplative stare at the statue, Hermione turned to find that her partner was watching her with just as much concentration as she'd directed at the stone woman.

"What?" she asked, slightly defensive. The look in his eyes wasn't one she was familiar with, and Hermione found she didn't like not knowing what he was thinking, especially when his attention was so obviously consumed by her. It made her uncomfortable to be examined so closely, her mind immediately jumped to paranoid and ridiculous places. What if he was regretting ever making their partnership into something more and just didn't know how to tell her? What if he regretted every time he had ever touched her?

Draco shook his head. "Nothing. Are we finished here? I'd like to get back to work and finish blasting the Weasel to little ginger bits."

Slightly hurt, Hermione nodded. "Yes, we're finished."


	28. Chapter 28

**Chapter 28**

**A/N: Hello readers! This chapter was going to wait until tomorrow, but****ShadowHunerS**** confused me with evil time math, so it's early! Anyway, this chapter is a little shorter than the others, but that's because I had to cut the scene in half. It was just getting too long. I won't make you wait past Sunday for the next chapter though, so there's that.**

**As always, thanks to everyone who reviewed and to irianaceleste for betaing.**

**I know several of you have been waiting for what happens in this chapter, so here it is.**

**~Frosty**

Days later, Hermione came home from a particularly unpleasant day feeling downright despondent. She and Draco still weren't talking, and she'd found that work was much less... everything when her partner wasn't there at her side. The entire situation was out of hand, but she wasn't going to be the first one to bridge that gap; she was stubborn. Unfortunately, her partner was just as stubborn and prideful as she was. Neither one of them was willing to bridge the widening gap even thought they were clearly both miserable.

She paused halfway through her front door, hearing a shuffling sound coming from further in her apartment. According to her wards, no one had entered, so she was immediately suspicious that something strange was going on.

Withdrawing her wand, Hermione put her back to the wall and slowly edged her way towards the sound. She had her suspicions about the source of the sound, but it never hurt to be ready for an attack. After all, she was Hermione Granger. There would always be a few people hanging around that wanted her dead.

When she entered her living room, she immediately found the source of the rustling sound. There was a figure seated cross-legged on her sofa. The sound she'd heard was coming from the large white wings that were squished against the back of her sofa. He kept shuffling his wings, probably in an effort to get more comfortable.

Sighing soundlessly, Hermione lowered her wand a little and moved around the sofa so that she could get a clear view of her visitor.

"_This isn't going to end well,_" filtered through her mind.

Just as she suspected, it was Earl. Except he wasn't a lizard, he was Eros, full size god of love, complete with his bow and quiver of arrows sitting beside him. He was only wearing tiny white shorts that left nothing to the imagination and clearly showcased that he was a stunning male specimen. The petulant pout jutting out his well-shaped bottom lip somehow didn't ruin the aura of seduction he effortlessly exuded. It was much easier to understand how he was the god of love when he was in this form instead of as an annoying little lizard.

Earl saw her looking at him and his pout faded slightly into a smug look. It figured that he was the type who never tired of being admired. With a body like his, it was probably for the best that he enjoyed being admired, because Hermione couldn't imagine the admiration would stop anytime soon, not if he kept looking like _that_.

Still, beneath the attractive surface, he was still the little lizard who had caused all kinds of trouble for her, so she was able to stop her eyes from wandering and managed to force them to focus on his attractive face. She watched him warily, knowing that there had to be some evil and meddlesome motive for him to be in her apartment after having finished all of his business with her.

"You don't have to look at me like I'm going to bite you," he grumbled.

Having never before heard his voice when he was in his proper form, Hermione was blindsided when he spoke. His voice had changed into something just as appealing as his physical form; it was to her ears what the smoothest caramel was to her tongue. She very nearly had to sit down so that she could enjoy it without worrying that her knees would turn to liquid and leave her in a heap on the floor. The full effect of his... godliness was apparently lost when he was in his lizard form. It was a shame that a walking orgasm was visiting her in her home and she couldn't even take advantage of it. Eros was completely devoted to Psyche in his own strange way, and Hermione found Draco's face suddenly prominent in her mind.

"It's not your bite that worries me." Despite half wanting to throw herself at the attractive god on her sofa, Hermione managed to keep her voice even, a feat that made her proud. She could sound like a perfectly reasonable human being even when half melted on the inside. Hopefully the effect Eros had on her would wane in time; otherwise it would be exhausting to be in his presence for even a few minutes.

Her eyes strayed warily over to his arrows, lying with seeming innocence at his side. Hermione wasn't fooled; she was well aware of the infinite troubles that they could cause, especially in Eros' hands.

Eros ignored her comment and her obvious wariness of his presence. He was so used to making himself welcome everywhere he went; she doubted that he even noticed when he was clearly unwanted.

"Come have a talk with me." He patted the seat beside him.

Hermione didn't want to have a "talk" with him, but she knew that he wasn't going to take no for an answer. She chose a chair on the other side of the room. "I'll stay over here if it's just the same."

"Mortals are no fun," Eros grumbled. "Fine," he continued in a more normal voice, "You just sit there and stare at me distrustfully while I talk."

"You're in my house; I don't really have that many other options."

Eros pretended she hadn't spoken. "First of all, I'm very disappointed that you never put those edible knickers to good use. They were lemon flavoured, something I thought that partner of yours would have enjoyed immensely."

Remaining expressionless was a little difficult, but Hermione managed to refrain from blushing or anything of the sort. Eros was purposely trying to get a rise from her and she wasn't going to give him the satisfaction. Talking back would probably just make him think that he had to teach her a lesson, and she was concerned that said lesson would involve another pair of edible knickers and Draco's bed.

Eros pouted at her for a second before continuing with his real reason for visiting. "You and that partner of yours have something special between you – and from the god of love, an admission like that really means something. This ridiculous fight you two have going on right now holds the potential to ruin not only your relationship, but also the partnership that the both of you have been depending on for years. Admit it, he's your best friend, the person who comforts you in times of weakness and isn't afraid to kick your arse when you're being an idiot." He paused. "Did I use the word arse right? I always struggle with English colloquialisms; it's all Greek to me."

Hermione just blinked at him. He was probably expecting her to laugh at his _very _bad joke, but it wasn't happening. Her mind was too occupied by the fact that he was right. Draco really was her best friend. Harry and Ron would always have a very important place in her heart, she'd been through too much with them to not have formed a lasting bond, but they had never really understood her. She'd always been just the smart one to them, the one who reminded them of the rules like a mother hen as they broke them. But Draco, he was different. Draco reminded her to be professional when she let her fears get the better of her, and he didn't roll his eyes when she talked about the rules too much. Not only that, but he could keep up with her intellectually when he bothered to apply himself, something few people seemed able to manage.

"I'm right. I can tell from the look on your face." Eros was disgustingly smug, and it only irritated Hermione. She hated that he was right, and even more than that, she hated that she and Draco would never be able to go back to what they had been before. Their easy partnership was going to have to change. For better or worse, she wasn't yet sure, but it had to change.

"It's not that simple," she finally said, frustrated with Eros' implication that all she had to do was throw herself at Draco and everything would suddenly be alright again. Why was it only her being pestered by a god? She supposed that Eros's effect on Draco would be significantly less than it was on her, but it still wasn't fair that she was the only one who had to come home to find him in her living room. "We fight so much."

He waved a dismissive hand. "That's called passion, and it's perfectly normal. You idiots just need to forget about being so stubborn and admit that you're happier together than you are apart. Admit that you love each other."

Without thinking, Hermione voiced something that she hadn't even known had been eating at her for a while. Eros had a strange way of dragging confessions from her; she had a feeling that it was practice that made him so good at it.

"What if he doesn't love me back?" He was the god of love, right? Hermione was sure that he'd heard insecurities before, but she wasn't all that pleased about sounding like an angst-filled preteen with her first crush.

Eros groaned. "This is why I usually shoot first and am gone before the whiny insecurities start." He looked down at his bare wrist. "Draco's going to be here in about five seconds, so you have about that long to get over your whining."

Hermione bristled at the way Eros just brushed off her concerns. Draco not returning her feelings was a legitimate concern, and the god of love that was practically squishing them together and making smooching sounds like a little girl with her dolls should care a little more about Hermione's inner turmoil. She glared at Eros, wishing that she could just kick him out of her home and hating him for calling Draco over before she was ready to deal with him and the feelings he evoked. Her cheeks were still red with humiliation and anger when Draco stumbled out of her fireplace a moment later.

The blond didn't look too happy to see her. "What is it that was so urgent, Granger? I was in the middle of dinner. In case you hadn't noticed, it's Friday night. Some of us have plans."

Hermione was hurt. If they were so in love, then why was he going on dates, and why was he so sure that she didn't have any plans? Was she so pathetic that even Draco, someone who was at the very least a friend, didn't think her possible of attracting male attention? If he loved her, then shouldn't he be a little less hostile towards her?

A wave of doubts very nearly crushed Hermione as her partner stood there staring at her with hostile, accusing eyes. Nothing about their relationship added up.

"It wasn't me! It was-" She turned around to find that Eros wasn't on her sofa anymore. He didn't appear to be anywhere in the room. Of _course _Eros disappeared before he became tangled in the fallout of his actions.

Draco was looking at her like she'd seen him stare at bugs beneath his shoes, usually right before he crushed them. He didn't take well to being ignored and she had known that, but every time she thought that maybe she should just give in and speak to him, she remembered the night of the fire. She still had nightmares about all of the magical creatures that had burned to death right in front of her eyes. Kate had orchestrated that, and she had gone free for quite a while because Draco couldn't be bothered to read a sodding file! Kate's maiden name was on the first page, he really would have only needed to _open _the file and then they could have caught the horrible woman.

Maybe she _was _being a little unreasonable. It wasn't like catching Kate sooner would have stopped the fire, or the deaths of all of those magical creatures. The woman probably hadn't even been hiding out at the Malfoy summer home until she'd been nearly caught the night of the warehouse fire and been forced to go into hiding. Still, Hermione subconsciously needed someone to blame for the whole disaster and Draco had made the most sense. After all, he could have caught her so much sooner if he had only _listened _to Hermione.

She shook her head to herself. Her anger was unwarranted and she knew it, Draco was just a scapegoat so she could focus her frustration and sadness on something tangible. It was unfair to her partner and she needed to let it go. She missed him.

Hermione had looked up and taken a breath to voice her apology when something behind her caught Draco's attention. His eyes widened almost comically large as he dove forward, grabbed her around the waist and turned her around, bending himself over her smaller form protectively.

There was the creaking sound of a bow being drawn and then the twang of an arrow released. Before Hermione could even process the sounds and her partner's sudden lunge at her, an ominous, hollow thump sounded and Draco's body jolted slightly with an impact.

Hermione, terrified that he was hurt, looked up to meet her partner's eyes. She was so focused on searching for a sign of pain in the grey depths of his stare that she didn't even notice Eros nock another arrow and step to the side so he could aim at her.

While a little dazed, Draco seemed like he was okay. She couldn't find any pain in his eyes, and his face was relaxed, free of the strain she knew it acquired when he was hurting.

Hermione hadn't noticed Eros nock another arrow, but she _did _notice when the second arrow impacted with her side, jolting her whole body slightly just as Draco's had done to him.

It was strange to be hit with an arrow of love. One would think that, after the horrible thunk sound they made on impact, the arrow would hurt, but it just felt kind of tingly as it disappeared inside her body, absorbed by her very soul without leaving a single physical mark.

No longer worried that he was in pain, Hermione looked into Draco's eyes once more. There was a hesitant expectancy there that she guessed was mirrored in her own stare. He didn't look like he was suddenly madly in love with her though; he was looking at her much the same as he did on any normal day, one when he wasn't furious with her for ignoring him.

"There, you've both been shot by my arrows of love," Eros said, sounding positively gleeful with self-congratulations. "Do you feel any different?"


	29. Chapter 29

**Chapter 29**

**A/N: Hello readers! I've hit my 50 000 word goal for my nanowrimo project and there's **_**snow on the ground**_**. I'm in such a good mood today! Here's the last chapter. Only the epilogue to go, and that's not even 1 000 words.**

**Thanks to everyone who reviewed and to irianaceleste for betaing!**

**To summerful21, you always have great things to say in reviews, but you have your private messaging denied so I can't answer you in a PM. Thanks for the review and for the help with the rating thing! Also, that would just be too cheesy if I had gone the cliché route...**

**To yay, I reread the first paragraph and I agree with you, I must have missed that in editing or maybe it was one of those sounds good in my head, but doesn't actually sound good things. Also, yes, that's the point.**

**~Frosty**

Hermione and Draco shared a look of frustration and anger, turning to glare at Eros in unison.

"I don't feel any different," Hermione said.

"Me either."

Eros slid his bow over his shoulder and smiled at them, not pointing out that they were still wrapped around each other and showing no intention of letting go. "That's the point. I hit you with love arrows and _you feel the exact same as you did before_. Normally people are over the moon and gushing sweet nothings in each other's ears at this point." Their blank stares were identical in their complete lack of awe or even the tiniest bit of dawning realization. It was enough to make a less tenacious god give up and retreat to his home in the clouds. "You're already in love!"

Draco still had his arms wrapped tightly around Hermione from when he saved her from the path of Eros' arrow. He leaned back slightly so that he could see her face. "What are the chances that he has defective arrows?"

An outraged noise came from the other side of the room, but they ignored it. They also ignored the contemplative way Eros was looking at his quiver. The god was clearly thinking about shooting them again, just to prove a point.

"Negligible." Eros relaxed slightly at Hermione's faith in his arrows.

Draco brought a hand up to cup the back of Hermione's neck. The warmth from the tender touch made her feel tingly all over. Had she been younger, she would have giggled childishly and batted her eyelashes at him like a preteen with her first crush. As it was, she raised her own hand and put it on his cheek, smiling when he tilted his head to lean into the touch.

"You jumped in front of an arrow for me."

"Of course," he said simply, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. When she thought about it, she supposed that it was. Had the situation been reversed, she would have done the same for him without hesitation or thought.

Draco was frowning at her. "Why do you look like you just swallowed something both sharp and sour and it struggled all the way down?"

That was actually an apt description of her mental turmoil in that moment. An unhappy porcupine covered in lemon juice would probably have elicited a feeling similar to the one she was experiencing. Hermione's stomach was suddenly twisting and turning with the anxiety-ridden realization that she was more than likely in love with her partner. Scratch that, she was definitely and completely in love with her prickly, arrogant partner.

Her eyes must have shown her sudden fear, because Draco looked completely baffled, even glancing over his shoulder to see what it was that had her so on edge. He couldn't possibly know that it was _him _causing his brave partner to feel like cowering as if she were a small child.

"I see my work here is done," Eros said smugly. Draco's bafflement continued, but Hermione knew that the god had somehow divined the direction of her thoughts. Merlin, she hoped that he couldn't actually _read _her thoughts. She tried to remember all of the things that had run through her head while he had been there and just couldn't do it. She could only hope that some stray thought that she'd had while he'd been listening wouldn't one day come back to haunt her.

Instead of just disappearing like he normally did, Eros gave them a knowing smirk and popped out of existence, leaving in his wake a cloud of the gold glitter that still lingered in some hidden corners of her office no matter how thoroughly she cleaned the place. With the glitter was a cat-sized winged horse. The little horse had what looked suspiciously like the pair of edible knickers that Hermione had thrown out hanging from its left ear.

"It's official," Hermione sighed. "I'm never again going to have a nice, normal day."

Finally realizing that he was still holding her, Draco unwound his arms, not looking at her as he made his way across the room to remove the knickers from the tiny horse. He held the knickers up at eye level, gave Hermione a contemplative look, and then placed the knickers carefully to the side so that he could poke at the horse. It didn't seem to appreciate the attention, trying to bite whatever part of the blond got too near.

"If you had wanted normal, Granger, you would have gone into a different profession. Perhaps something soul-stealing and boring like a bookstore clerk, or a Hogwarts professor."

Hermione had wanted to work in a bookstore when she was younger, but that dream had wilted once she was accepted into Hogwarts and discovered how vast the world really was. She realized now that, while she would enjoy the sanctuary bookstores provided, she would never be able to do that for a living. Whether because she had become used to being right on the front lines during school, or that had been part of her personality all along she wasn't sure, but she did know that she wouldn't have fared well sequestered away in a dusty old bookstore for the rest of her life. Her spirit was one that needed action and a cause to flourish.

She hated it when Draco was right. Even if he didn't say anything about it, his smugness was always nearly tangible, jabbing at every last bit of her patience.

"I'm going to make tea," Hermione grumbled. Her partner was still distracted with his poking of the tiny horse, so she left him to it. The horse wasn't in any real danger, and Hermione was desperate for him to forget that he'd been questioning her on her strange expression. She just wasn't ready to tell him that she loved him. She'd only just realized herself that she did. It was too much too fast.

As she waited for the kettle to boil, Hermione stole peeks at Draco and the strange flying horse. She vaguely wondered if the horse would like a cup of tea as well, but decided against it. Until she had done further research, the little horse was only going to be getting foods that its larger counterparts could safely ingest. She sliced an apple and set it on the tea tray along with a saucer of water and the two cups of tea.

Draco nodded his thanks before taking a suspicious sip of the beverage. He never trusted anyone with his tea, and Hermione had seen him spit it back into the cup on more than one occasion, not caring that he could offend someone - never when she had made it though.

She took her earlier seat as the horse flew over to the coffee table to investigate the apple. The crisp fruit crunched loudly under the horse's small teeth, and Hermione just had to smile at the quiet little whuffs of appreciation it made as it ate.

The little prickles along the back of her neck told her that Draco was watching her again. This time she was able to identify the burning expression in his eyes: lust. She hadn't even been aware that she'd been doing something particularly enticing to warrant such a strong reaction.

When he saw her staring back at him, Draco turned his eyes elsewhere, not looking back until he had cooled his gaze to something friendlier and less predatory. "I think you're going to be okay on your own with this one." It was an obvious attempt to forgo the whole awkward silence thing, but she didn't call him on it. The effort was appreciated; Hermione didn't like awkward silences any more than anyone else did.

She nodded in agreement. It didn't seem like her new companion was going to be a difficult house guest; not like a certain lizard that had caused all kinds of trouble.

Hermione examined the little horse, watching it as it finished its plate of food and moved on to sneakily lap up Draco's unattended tea. He didn't notice that his precious tea was being contaminated because he was watching her again; she could feel the caress of his stare as she looked at the tiny horse.

Despite not seeing it herself, her partner's lusty look had awoken a similar reaction in her stomach. Warmth was oozing through her veins and raising her temperature. She knew from experience that this would continue until she either distracted herself or gave up and surrendered herself to it.

Draco's fist collided with the coffee table, nearly overturning both cups of tea and greatly upsetting the flying horse, which spread its wings and flew into the kitchen, probably in search of the fruit bowl bearing the rest of the apples.

Unconsciously, Hermione pressed a hand to her heart in an effort to slow its frantic beats. "If you're going to destroy my furniture, then you can just go home. You're better able to replace the broken stuff anyway."

"I'm not doing this."

"I'm sure your House Elves would be willing to make you some tea in your own home if it's my company that you find so disagreeable."

"Don't start on the House Elves again-"

"I _wasn't_. I'm just saying that if you're so ill at ease with me that you're going to start destroying my furniture, then maybe it's best –" she broke off when Draco lunged across the table and smothered the rest of her sentence with his palm.

"I'm fed up with dancing around the thing that we both know is there, the elephant in the room, so to speak." The little horse snorted in offense from the kitchen, obviously thinking Draco had called it an elephant.

He slowly removed his hand, giving her a warning look that told her it would immediately be replaced if she continued with her nonsense.

"It's actually a flying horse, and it's in the kit-" The hand was back over her mouth. Draco pushed the coffee table aside and came to lean over her, only inches away with his hand still firmly on her mouth. He was resorting to looming over his opponent again, but Hermione wasn't someone easily intimidated.

"You're being deliberately obtuse, you bloody infuriating woman." If his hand wasn't in the way, he'd have been very nearly kissing her. Their position brought those stormy eyes of his awfully close, the proximity only made them seem to burn brighter. Not for the first time, Hermione found herself trapped in his stare and unable to lean away, she couldn't even blink.

Draco sighed and leaned forward to rest his head against her shoulder. His hand fell from her mouth to slide around her back, keeping her still – not that she was even the tiniest bit tempted to move away from him. "I'm sure you know how hard it is for me to talk about..._feelings_, but I refuse to sit here and pretend that I'm not-" He broke off, seeming to choke on the rest of his sentence.

Freed from the hypnotic draw of his eyes, Hermione was able to form thoughts once more. She brought her hand up and absently stroked his soft hair. He was more distraught than she'd seen him in a long time; he needed the comfort. She could use some as well now that she was thinking of it.

"Not in love with me?" she asked, her voice more of a sigh than anything. Apparently she was going to have this conversation with him whether she was ready or not. They were already well past the point of no return anyway; their partnership could never return to what it had once been.

"I'm not the type to fall in love."

"_Everyone's _the type to fall in love." She tugged his hair a little for extra emphasis. "It comes with the territory of being human."

"There are people who think I'm not human."

Hermione couldn't really argue with that, she'd once heard the "beverage slave" insist that Draco was actually some sort of demon, and there was a monk on a mountain somewhere in the alps that claimed Draco was a malevolent spirit sent to punish people for wrongdoings. In all fairness, Draco had thought the monk was an attacking yeti and had tried to behead him, so the man bore a bit of a grudge.

"Eros thinks you're capable of love, and it's kind of his area of expertise, so he knows what he's talking about."

Holding her a little tighter, Draco brought his lips to her neck. He loved the way she tasted, the way she smelled, that fire that burned in her eyes when she was working on a creature case that she really cared about. If he had thought such things in sixth year, he would have been disgusted with himself, but things change and even evil little boys were capable of growing into relatively well adjusted men.

"Draco?"

Hermione leaned forward to give him more room as his hand slipped up her back, having snuck underneath her shirt. She wasn't sure what he was doing, but she knew that she was probably going to let him. It had been entirely too long since the last time she'd touched him. Her reaction to his relatively innocent caress served to remind her of how stupid she'd been to stay away from him for so long.

"What?" He was distracted with the softness of her skin. Her brain was one of his favourite parts of her, but at the moment he was more occupied with her body – and such a welcoming and soft body it was.

"I love you," she said clearly so that there would be no mistaking her meaning. Draco tensed all over and pulled back to stare into her eyes. He certainly did that a lot, the pulling away and staring at her.

He must have found something he liked in her eyes; pounced is the only word Hermione could think of to describe what he did next. The world tilted and then she was on her back with Draco over top of her before she'd even managed to reaffirm which way was up. She was deliciously dizzy between her sudden change in position and the weight of Draco as he gave her a slow, sensuous kiss that made her toes curl and her hands slip into his soft hair to massage his scalp.

With great difficulty, Draco pulled away enough to speak. "I love you too."

Apparently she'd been more convincing than she'd thought when she'd told him that he was capable of love. That argument had most likely been his last-ditch effort to deny what they both knew to be true.

She had already known, what with Eros telling them and all, but it was wonderful to actually hear the words from his lips. She suddenly understood the whole pouncing thing, yanking him back down so that she could kiss him senseless just as he'd done to her only moments before.

A crash from the kitchen broke them apart. Hermione tilted her head slightly to see around the doorway. It appeared that the miniature horse had somehow opened her refrigerator and nudged a jar of pickles off of the top shelf. There were pickles, brine, and bits of glass scattered across her floor while the horse carelessly stood in the open fridge and ate its way through a watermelon that nearly dwarfed it in size.

Hermione pushed Draco off of her before standing and going to vanish the mess in her kitchen. She was going to need to find somewhere to keep the miniature horse where it couldn't get into any trouble. Perhaps the Unspeakables would be willing to take on yet another rare creature specimen... She just had to hope that they didn't ask where it came from; she had a feeling that the gods were happy with the majority of mortals not believing in their existence.

When she got back to the living room, Draco was exactly where she'd left him, lying sprawled on the floor. He looked like he was hoping to continue where they'd left off. Hermione would like that as well, but they had a few things to sort out before they could indulge in more recreational activities.

"Come on," she said, grabbing his hand and pulling him from the sofa. "Let's go figure out a way to tell Harry that his escaped convict has been inexplicably and permanently turned into stone and is residing in a rose garden. _Your _rose garden. They're wasting Auror resources searching for her."

"I'm in a good enough mood that I may even hold off hexing them for being bloody morons." He amended his statement when he saw her disbelieving look, "For a few minutes."


	30. Epilogue

**Epilogue**

**A/N: Hello readers! Thanks so much to everyone who reviewed and to irianaceleste for betaing!**

**See the bottom for additional notes.**

Harry and Ron stood dressed in their official Auror uniforms, staring at the stone statue. They were there on official Ministry business hunting for Kate. An anonymous tip, written in Hermione's handwriting, had appeared on Harry's desk telling him that the missing Azkaban prisoner was a stone statue located in Narcissa Malfoy's formal rose garden. No one had believed it, but the policy was to investigate these sorts of things, especially when it involved someone who had made the Ministry look bad when they escaped from a supposedly inescapable prison.

Ron's head was tilted to the side as he squinted his eyes at the stone woman. "It does look exactly like her."

Harry nodded his agreement. There were a few more beats of silence as they both contemplated the stone woman some more.

"You don't think... _Hermione _did this, do you?"

There were a few seconds where Harry seriously considered the possibility of Hermione having committed such a crime. She did have a tendency to get overzealous in her near fanatic protection of helpless creatures, and he'd seen for himself how devastated she'd been when all of those magical creatures had been killed in the fire. Hermione also put a great deal of effort into improving the Ministry's handling of various crimes against magical creatures, so he doubted that she'd ruin all of that hard work by bypassing the system and indulging in vigilante justice.

An impatient tapping from behind them drew their attention to Malfoy, standing there with his arms crossed and his expensive Italian leather shoe tapping on the cobblestone path. The blond kept glancing at his watch and then back towards the Manor like he was expecting someone.

"Are we keeping you from something, Malfoy?"

Draco barely refrained from telling them that Granger was, as they spoke, lying in his bed in only a pair of edible knickers, waiting for him. The moronic duo had chosen the most inopportune moment to act on the anonymous tip that Hermione had sent. They had received the tip nearly a week ago, and Hermione had insisted that if they hadn't acted on it yet, they probably weren't going to. It figured that her sodding friends would show up just when he'd finally talked her into wearing the knickers that Eros had left with them. Potter had been ruining things for Draco for most of their lives, but this time there would be no forgiving the bespectacled git.

A strange screech from the house echoed across the lawn to the men assembled in the rose garden. Only Draco had the slightest inkling about what that sound meant, and he knew it was nothing good. His suspicions were confirmed when he turned to see his enraged mother chasing after the miniature flying horse, followed closely by Hermione. The brunette was wearing one of Draco's shirts, a pair of sparkly gold knickers, and nothing else, as evidenced by all the bouncing that was happening as she ran.

"Draco, stop it from getting in the roses. I will _not _have some other creature ruining my best blooms!" Narcissa shouted. She'd been firing hexes at the flying horse as she ran, but missed every time.

More concerned with the attentive way the Weasel was watching Hermione run than with the state of his mother's flowers, Draco shrugged off his outer robe and snatched Hermione as she tried to run past.

"While I'm _greatly _enjoying the view, I'd prefer that my mother, Potter, and Weaselbee weren't here to see it as well," he murmured as he slipped the robe over her shoulders.

She pulled the robe tighter around her and blushed. Hermione hadn't noticed that she'd been wearing so little when she'd followed after the miniature horse as it tore a path of destruction through the Manor. The thing was proving to be a right terror and, unfortunately, she hadn't been able to find somewhere appropriate for a miniature winged horse. There just didn't seem to be any populations of them anywhere in the world. She had no idea where Eros had found the horse, but half suspected that he'd created it just to get on her nerves. The creature certainly had Eros' trickster personality.

Unable to stand by while there was a citizen in distress, Harry immediately chased after the horse, helping Narcissa keep the thing from eating her roses. With Hermione and Draco helping, the four managed to subdue the miniature horse.

Hermione held it by the tiny bridle she'd conjured and gave it a stern look. "What have I told you about trying to eat Narcissa's roses? You know she gets very upset and they give you a stomach ache besides."

The horse hung its head, but looked anything but repentant. He was actually trying to reach the nearest rosebush without Hermione noticing.

Narcissa took one look at Harry and Ron's rapidly darkening expressions and took the horse from Hermione. "Good luck," she whispered.

Slightly confused, Hermione didn't understand what Narcissa had meant until she caught a look at her friend's – particularly Ron's – expressions. Oh. They really didn't look pleased at all.

Well, they were just going to have to deal with it. Her chin tilted up determinedly and she smiled slightly as Draco came up behind her and snaked an arm around her waist.

"Their warrant was only for the garden," he murmured in her ear. "If we can get to the Manor, we can finish what we started and the wards won't let them inside unless I tell them to."

"We're still going to have to deal with them in the office tomorrow."

"But think of all we can _accomplish _between now and then."

Hermione shivered at just the thought. She was definitely convinced. "On the count of three we run," she whispered. "Quick, while they're still in shock."

"One," he said, subtly shifting so that he could more easily take off towards the house.

"Two."

Hermione slid her hand into his waiting grasp.

"Three!"

They ran.

The End

**A/N 2: I'm putting this story as complete now, but I will be adding one additional chapter. I thought it might be fun to explore Hermione and Draco's first day on the job, so keep an eye out for that chapter.**

**Also, a few of you have suggested a sequel. I know with most of my other stories I was adamant that there be no sequel because I felt the story was finished, but here I think there's potential for more. I have started working on the sequel for this story. It will be titled "The Case of the..." something (I haven't come up with the complete title yet) and take place about a week after the ending of this one. **

**~Frosty**


	31. Prequel Chapter

**Prequel: The Case of the New Partner **

**A/N: Hello readers! Thanks so much to everyone who reviewed!**

**As promised, here's the prequel chapter. There's nothing important to the plot in here, it's really more just a bit of fun. Anyway, this is unbetaed because I told you guys it would be out around New Years and it's 2013...**

**Also, for those of you who don't know, I've ****written an original story. If you guys are interested, you can read the first bit of chapter on in my profile page, or you could just read the whole chapter (and hopefully leave me a review to tell me about it) at www. fictionpress s /3081934 /1 / Plain-Jane (without the spaces).**

**I haven't forgotten about the sequel to this story and will try to have the first chapter up soon.**

**~Frosty**

Fresh out of her seventh year at Hogwarts, Hermione had an enthusiasm that none of her coworkers seemed to share. In fact, she was disappointed to find that she was the only one who seemed interested in her job at all.

Since she was so new – and possibly because everyone hated paperwork – Hermione was stuck at her desk working on a stack of forms. She tried to look on the positive side; at least she was _sort of _helping magical creatures by working in the department. Most of the paperwork was regarding proposals on which areas should be considered protected territory, so she _was _making a difference it just wasn't _how_ she had pictured herself making a difference.

Being new, she didn't yet have an office. Instead, Hermione was shoved into a desk sitting in a spare hallway nook. Their department wasn't overly large, so Hermione knew from walking around that there was another newbie somewhere, probably also crammed into an uncomfortable corner somewhere. She hadn't yet found the time to actually go find him and introduce herself. From what she had heard, the other new employee wasn't the most welcoming of people, so perhaps it was best that she waited until he had settled in a bit before she met him.

Hermione was just starting to think that she was never going to get to work with actual magical creatures at all when her boss came over to her desk carrying what looked like a miniature willow tree in a tiny pot.

"You, Granger," he grunted, the first thing Hermione had heard the man say to her since she'd started working in his department. "You're to keep this... creature happy until our department can ready the special habitat. It's the last of its kind, thought to be extinct until now, so you'll have a partner for this assignment to help with its needs."

She accepted the surprisingly heavy potted plant that was thrust into her arms and was left staring as her boss turned and walked away. Shouldn't he have at least assigned her a partner or something?

Hermione blinked a few times at the broad retreating back before turning to look at the small tree on her desk. As far as she could tell, it wasn't a creature at all, but a houseplant. However, she knew that looks could be deceiving, especially when dealing with magic, so she examined it closely.

It really was a perfect miniature of a normal willow. Even its tiny leaves were perfect miniatures of the real things.

"You're kind of extraordinary," she said quietly to the tree, just in case it was an English-speaking magical creature. Besides, compliments never hurt anything. She could see something so much smaller than normal trees having slight self esteem issues.

One of the tree's fronds reached out and wrapped around Hermione's finger, squeezing her for a moment. If felt like the little tree was trying to thank her for the compliment. Hermione would have hugged the adorable little thing if she didn't suspect that the tree wouldn't appreciate the gesture. However, now that she knew it understood what she was saying, she could at least comfort it with her words. She'd once read that normal plants grew better when they were spoken to on a regular basis, so it couldn't hurt to speak to this strange new plant-like creature.

"Don't worry," Hermione said quietly. "We're going to find you a good home."

"Perfect. I thought it was bad enough that they assigned me a know-it-all as a partner, and now you're insane as well. It figures; I should have known prolonged exposure to Weasley would diminish anyone's intelligence. That level of stupid just can't help rubbing off on everyone around him."

Frowning, Hermione's eyes slowly moved up until they were meeting a cold, grey stare.

"_Malfoy_? What in the world are you doing here?" Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed the little tree fluffing up slightly in an effort to make itself larger in the face of a threat. She couldn't blame the small creature for viewing Malfoy as a threat; his irritated glare wasn't exactly welcoming.

Malfoy, too busy looking down his nose at Hermione, didn't notice that the tree seemed ready to attack.

"Working," he drawled.

"Why here though? You've never struck me as someone who went out of your way to help magical creatures."

Actually, he had struck her as someone who made sure that magical creatures in his presence were miserable. Hermione thought back to the whole Buckbeak incident in their third year. She was pretty sure Malfoy was the type to spitefully eliminate a creature for an incident that wasn't the creature's fault, not someone interested in _helping_ creatures.

Malfoy scowled. "I didn't want a desk job and it was this or Auror. There's no way in hell I'd want to work with Potter and his band of merry do-gooders, so here I am."

She supposed that his answer was as good as any. Not everyone ended up in the Department for Control and Regulation of Magical Creatures because it was their dream to help the helpless creatures.

Hermione nodded at the irritated blond to show that she accepted his answer. "Did Mr. Moss tell you what our assignment is?"

"The fungus man didn't tell me anything useful, just told me to come and see you. I haven't been here long, but I already know that he's as useless as a third testicle."

She blinked a few times at the imagery, but managed to recover from her shock. Only after too much time had passed did she remember that perhaps she should have scolded him for badmouthing their boss. It was probably best that she hadn't. Hermione hadn't worked with him for more than five minutes and she already suspected that she was going to have to pick her battles.

"We're to watch this creature until the department can find a place for it," Hermione said, gesturing to the potted creature on her desk.

Malfoy looked down his nose at the little tree. He wasn't paying close attention to it, so he didn't notice that it was bristling even more than it had been before. "This is not a creature. This is a tree. Fungus is having us watch his bloody houseplants for him!"

While Malfoy was scowling at the brunette, the tree snapped one of its branches forward like a whip, hitting Malfoy's hand hard enough to leave an angry red mark.

Hermione had to fight off her giggles at the murderous look on Malfoy's face. "I think you offended it."

She shifted the plant's pot closer to her just in case Malfoy got it into his head that he should attack the innocent little creature. In an attempt to soothe the tree, Hermione stroked a hand down one of its branches, something it seemed to enjoy since it extended a few tendrils to wrap around her hand.

"Of course the thing likes _you_," Malfoy grumbled.

"Maybe it likes me because I didn't immediately insult it. If you're going to be working with creatures, you should learn to treat them with respect."

Instead of yelling at her as she thought he would have, Malfoy glanced down at his watch. "Our assignment is to keep an eye on the plant here."

Hermione nodded her agreement, not really sure where he was going with his comment.

"We don't need to be here to watch the thing." Absently scratching at his hand, he pulled down his sleeve over his watch once more. Malfoy started walking away, obviously expecting to be followed. He didn't notice that he wasn't leading an obedient duckling until he reached the end of the hallway. "Granger, come _on_."

"I guess it couldn't hurt to at least see what he wants," Hermione told the little tree. They hadn't been told to stay at the office and she had been cooped up behind her desk for weeks on end long. Besides, some fresh air would probably benefit the little plant.

Hermione cast a shielding charm over the tree to keep it safe from the wind and rain once they were outside. Since they were travelling with a creature, she had flat out refused to use the Floo network. Malfoy had tried to persuade her to use it anyway, but she had been adamant. She also refused to Disapparate, not knowing how their poor little creature would react to the sensation. If they were going to go... wherever they were going, Hermione wasn't letting their little side trip cause their charge any extra and unneeded stress.

Tapping his foot and standing around the corner of a building so that the practically horizontal rain didn't get him wet, Malfoy glared at his new partner. "If we're not going to Disapparate and we're not going to Floo, how do you propose we get to the Leaky Cauldron, Granger?"

A passing Muggle jostled him from behind and Malfoy turned to give the man such a vicious glare that the other man actually squeaked and apologised. Malfoy clearly wasn't all that comfortable in the Muggle world, which was why Hermione was pretty sure that her next words weren't going to go over well with him.

"We're going to take a taxi." She stared walking towards a busier road where she would be able to hail one of the cars.

Malfoy frowned and followed her stare until he was looking at the passing cars, taxis among them. "No. There is no way in _hell _that I'm getting in one of those things. Look at the way they're barely missing collisions!"

"They're not going to hit each other; there are strict laws that keep them going where they should."

"Don't try and fool me, Granger. I'm not so naive as to believe that there are never accidents involving those death traps."

She ignored him as she hailed one of the taxis.

When the black car pulled up to the curb, Malfoy took a step back. From the way he was standing, Hermione could tell that he had a hold of his wand inside his pocket and was prepared for an attack.

Luckily, he was prepared for an attack from the front, so when Hermione opened the door and stepped behind him under the pretense of grabbing the potted creature that she had left on the sidewalk he didn't expect what she did next. In one quick move, Hermione hooked a foot in front of Malfoy and shoved him off balance so that he fell in the car. From there, she merely gave him another push to get him the rest of the way into the seat.

The driver watched, amused, as she picked up the creature and daintily took her seat as if she hadn't just shoved around a full grown man – a full grown man who was sulking with his arms crossed as he stared moodily out the window. At least he knew when he was beat.

Pushing aside the nagging feeling that Malfoy was going to make her pay for that later, Hermione told the driver the address of the Leaky Cauldron and sat back in her seat, trying not to get too much enjoyment out of the way Malfoy's hand had a white-knuckled grip on the door handle.

* * *

As soon as Malfoy was free from the car, he stormed into the Leaky Cauldron, not looking behind him to see if Hermione was following after him.

"Yep," Hermione said to the tree after she'd paid the driver, "He's pretty mad at me." The tree's branches rustled worriedly. "Don't worry, I can take him."

Malfoy was already in Diagon Alley by the time she caught up to him. His shoulders were rigid and his jaw was tight; everything about him just screamed anger. Hermione half expected him to regress back to the boy he'd been in school and start lashing out at those around him.

She rushed after him. "You almost lost me."

"That was the point."

Hermione huffed. "We're supposed to be working together."

"And I'm supposed to be keeping myself and the Malfoy name out of trouble, something that assaulting a member of the Golden Trio in the middle of Diagon Alley isn't going to help."

Time for a subject change! "What are we doing here in Diagon Alley that was so important that you're willing to risk being seen with me in public?"

"Do you ever stop _talking_?" Malfoy snarled, scratching at his hand as he turned to glare at her.

Hermione shrugged, pretending that she couldn't see the people who were staring at her and Malfoy as they passed. She was used to people staring, but not used to the distrustful looks being directed towards her and Malfoy. It was no wonder Malfoy was so on edge if people were always looking at him like that.

She kept her mouth shut, following Malfoy silently as he led the way through the alley.

"We're going to a _robe _shop?"

He shot her a look over his shoulder that clearly told her she was being an idiot for asking that as they entered what was very obviously a robe shop.

Hermione had never seen this shop before. It was certainly no Madam Malkin's. There were no other clients in the store, yet the decorations of the place and the expensive-looking jewellery on the woman who fluttered to Malfoy's side suggested that it did well. Unlike the people on the street, this person seemed _very _happy to see Malfoy.

"Mr. Malfoy, are you here to pick up those dress robes?"

Hermione stood off to the side and watched as Malfoy accepted a garment bag. It was clear, so she could clearly see that the robes inside were a pale rose colour.

"That's going to clash horribly with your complexion," Hermione commented as he shrunk the bag down so that he could fit it in his pocket.

Malfoy glared at her. "It's for my mother."

Her eyebrows rose; Malfoy was picking up a dress for his mother and he needed to do it during work hours? That just went against most of the things she knew about the man. Wasn't he supposed to be too selfish to do things for other people?

"Stop looking at me like that, Granger. She's ill and seeing her new robes may make her feel a little better. I was going to do this after work, but I have a date with the brunette from the coffee cart - you know, the competent one who always makes tea perfectly – and now I can take her to an early dinner and have more time for... dessert."

She wrinkled her nose at his implications and then forced her thoughts onto another track to banish the disturbing images from her mind. "You probably shouldn't date someone who makes your tea every morning. What if something goes wrong?"

Malfoy rolled his eyes. "It's not like making tea is difficult. What could possibly go wrong?"

The little tree shifted in Hermione's arms, trying to reach for Malfoy again. Maybe the little guy wanted to slap some sense into the blond, make him see that she was actually correct in her warning.

* * *

Hours later, Hermione was sitting at her desk, bored as she stared at the tiny willow tree. She'd done a little preliminary research, trying to figure out what the thing was, but none of her books had been very forthcoming on the subject of tiny trees. A small article about possessed bonsai had sort of fit the situation, only to be quickly dismissed. If it was just possessed, then the tree wouldn't have been given to her to care for because possessions were another department.

Like the helpful partner he was, Malfoy had wandered off an hour ago in search of snacks. Hermione would have objected to his shirking of responsibility, but it was just so difficult for her to read while he was alternately poking the small tree with his wand and glaring venomously at anyone who _dared _to pass her desk. She had no idea how he managed to keep his job past his first day.

_Think of the devil and he shall appear_, she thought as Malfoy rounded the corner, balancing a paper bag in his arms while he scratched at his hand. He was chewing something, probably whatever it was he had in that bag. From the whiff of chocolate she got as he seated himself, her guess was that the bag contained some type of chocolate. She tried to mentally send a message to her stomach to not growl and embarrass her in front of Malfoy.

When she saw how red Malfoy's hand was, Hermione did a double take.

"Malfoy, what's wrong with your hand?"

He finished chewing the mouthful of chocolate he had, something had Hermione appreciated. "Itchy," he said eloquently before popping another chocolate in his mouth.

Hermione wished she could be so unconcerned about the whole thing. Malfoy's normally pale skin was an angry red and looking inflamed. Now that she was thinking about it, he'd been scratching at that hand for quite a while.

From personal experience, Hermione knew a thing or two about allergic reactions. She was allergic to gelatin; she puffed up and broke out in unbearable itchy hives if she so much as touched a marshmallow.

"Are you having an allergic reaction to something?"

He popped another chocolate into his mouth, giving her a quick look of disdain before turning his attention back to his treats. He wasn't as different form Harry and Ron as he liked to think.

"Malfoy's don't have allergies."

Hermione didn't know him that well and she wasn't so concerned that she would have forced the issue. However, he tilted his head at just the right angle for her to see that the rash was spreading to his neck, which meant that it had already climbed his arm and was working on taking over his entire body. She was no expert on such extreme allergic reactions, but she was pretty sure that Malfoy's life was in danger

"We need to get you to the hospital."

"No."

It seemed that somewhere along the line, Hermione had become spoilt. Harry and Ron, while they argued with her on many points, had long since given up in disputing her when she told them that something was serious enough to warrant a visit to the hospital. If Hermione Granger didn't know a charm or potion to cure the ailment, chances were that it was very serious indeed.

Malfoy hadn't learned that lesson yet. He set his jaw and glared at her in a manner Hermione was sure would be intimidating if she hadn't seen it nearly every day of her Hogwarts career.

"Don't look at me like that, Malfoy. If I knew a spell to fix an allergic reaction that severe, I'd cast it for you and save me what is obviously going to be a big struggle in getting you to the hospital. Now let's go."

The blond was unmoved. He even had the audacity to stare at her challengingly as he leisurely popped another chocolate in his mouth.

"Fine," she said through clenched teeth. "You leave me no choice." Hermione carefully removed the tree from her desk and sat it at her feet before drawing her wand on the blond git that was _smirking _at her over chocolate. Chocolate that h_e hadn't even thought to offer to her_. "You're going to the hospital whether you want to or not."

He was so sure that she was just bluffing that Malfoy didn't even bother going for his wand to defend himself, which made it easy for Hermione to cast a body bind jinx on him, scoop up the plant in on arm, and then march primly towards the atrium. They had a special Floo there that was meant to be used only in medical emergencies. It was supposed to be more gentle than regular Floo, so Hermione figured it should be fine for her little tree friend. Malfoy's allergic reaction was severe enough that Hermione counted it as an emergency.

Thankfully, once in the hospital, Malfoy was something close to obedient. Hermione was so thrown off by the way he was quietly following after her that she kept shooting worried glances towards him, thinking his was even worse off than she had thought for him to not even be muttering profanities at her back. Her attention being focused solely on her partner, she missed the fearful looks that the staff were shooting at the seemingly docile blond, so Hermione was unprepared when she walked up to the counter in the waiting room to admit him.

"My partner seems to have suffered from an extreme allergic reaction," Hermione said crisply.

With a bored nod, the Mediwitch behind the desk shuffled around for the correct paperwork, only to freeze when she leaned to the side to look at Malfoy where he stood behind Hermione. Her placid expression changed entirely, morphing into a curdling glare.

"Oh no, we're not admitting_ him_." The Mediwitch gestured to a picture of Malfoy spello-taped to the wall behind her desk. "He came in once just after the war and not only hexed a Healer, but he also verbally abused a Healer trainee until the poor boy quit. When we sedated him, he lashed out with magic and set the curtains on fire – while _unconscious_."

Hermione raised an eyebrow and looked at her unapologetic partner. "They tried to make me wear those bloody hospital robe things."

She had only been partnered with him for a few hours and already she was counting the minutes until end of the day. Malfoy was exhausting.

"If I take his wand and personally see to it that he behaves, will you admit him? He clearly needs medical attention." Hermione hated pulling the war hero card, but she wasn't above doing it when it was necessary. People seemed to let her get away with things that normal citizens just wouldn't be able to do, such as take her partner's wand and get him medical attention – at least she hoped.

"Granger, you're _not _taking my wand." The sentence was barely out of his mouth before Hermione once again caught him by surprise. She grabbed his arm and tried to twist it behind his back in a move that Harry had taught her from his Auror training. Unfortunately, Malfoy already seemed to know that move and had no trouble in using his greater size and strength to kick her feet out from under her.

Hermione fell to the floor in a heap, but she was determined to at least take Malfoy down with her. This determination turned out to be a bad thing, since Hermione ended up on the hospital floor in front of the reception desk with Malfoy on top of her.

He stared down at her a moment, startled that she'd pulled him down as well.

"You're crushing me," Hermione wheezed. She was sure that Malfoy was going to jump off of her immediately, horrified that he'd allowed himself to get so close to someone of what he believed to be lesser breeding. Instead, a slow smirk slid onto his lips, something that Hermione knew didn't bode well for her.

"I'm sorry," he said, sounding anything but, "Are you _uncomfortable_, Granger? Just like I was uncomfortable when you let that houseplant attack me, or when you shoved me into a filthy Muggle vehicle?"

Had Hermione not been in that back seat with him, she would have spoken in defense of Muggles. However, she was giving Malfoy the benefit of the doubt and thinking that he was probably referring to the vomit stain that he had been horrified to discover on the floor of the taxi at his feet, so his words weren't a commentary on his feelings for Muggles in general.

"Malfoy, I can't breathe!"

He was completely unimpressed. "Yet you don't seem to be having trouble finding the air to complain."

They were staring to attract a crowd. Apparently a former Death Eater can't sit on a war hero in the lobby of a leading magical medical facility without drawing a few stares. Hermione needed to end their little confrontation quickly before she and Malfoy ended up in the papers. The last thing she wanted was Harry and Ron finding out that she had been partnered with Malfoy through an article written in the _Prophet._

She noticed Malfoy's wand sticking out of his pocket. He was too busy revelling in trying to crush her to bother protecting his wand, so Hermione was able to snatch it. Of course, Malfoy immediately tried to wrestle it from her hand and a fight ensued.

"I always pictured Hermione Granger as more... dignified," one of the watching Mediwitches commented as Hermione and her partner rolled past them, grappling for Malfoy's wand.

Eventually, Hermione managed to point the wand at Malfoy and cast a body-bind jinx. It was fortunate that he had been on the bottom for their roll, as she would have struggled to push him off of her.

"There," Hermione huffed, roughly shoving stray wisps of her hair out of her red face as she looked around at her audience. Fighting with Malfoy was surprisingly hard work. "Is he sufficiently subdued?"

The woman who had initially refused to admit Malfoy slowly nodded. "I think so." She and everyone else in the room were looking at Hermione as if she was liable to attack someone with the wand she had stolen from her partner.

* * *

Malfoy was assigned an examination room and left there with Hermione. He had been released from the body-bind jinx, but Hermione had refused to relinquish his wand. The small creature was perched on a counter in the corner of the room. It was hard to tell, but Hermione was pretty sure that it was amused at their predicament.

"That was humiliating," Hermione hissed as Malfoy glared at her from his seat on the bed. He would have probably preferred to stand and tower over her in an attempt to intimidate, but Hermione had used a heavy duty sticking spell to keep his bottom attached to the hospital bed in the room.

"You're the one who tried to use force on me for the second time today, Granger. I'm not going to put up with being treated like that. Now _let me up_." This wasn't the first time he'd demanded that she free him from the spell, and it was clear that he was rapidly approaching the end of his fraying patience.

"You're sitting there until a Healer can look over you."

Lucky for them, a Healer chose that moment to walk into the room. "Mr. Malfoy," he said, looking down at his clipboard. "I hear that you've been causing trouble in my hospital once more."

The Healer was a mousy looking man, yet he had to have a spine of steel to be able to talk to Malfoy like that when the blond was glaring at him so fiercely. Hermione stepped out of the way to give the man room to do his job.

But the Healer didn't do his job. The man's eyes had wandered from Malfoy to the plant resting behind Hermione. He frowned. "That's one of those Weasley Whip-trees. There was a recall a while back on them because an abnormally large number of people were having severe allergic reactions." He then glanced at Malfoy's rash, nodded to himself and left the room.

Malfoy was scowling at the tree. "I highly doubt that the Ministry doesn't know about the recall on those trees."

For once, Hermione was in complete agreement with the blond. "This whole day was a joke."

"You think the Fungus has a sense of humour?" Malfoy asked, frowning as he tried to remember any hint of humour from their overly large boss in the past. Nothing came immediately to mind.

Hermione shook her head, keeping a close eye on her partner. "I think it's more mean-spirited than joking humour. He wanted to make fools of us."

After a few more moments of contemplation, Malfoy agreed. "That settles it then."

"Settles what?" She didn't like his tone; it was too free of anger considering how angry he'd been only moments before.

"I'm just going to have to murder him and anyone else in the office that was in on the prank."

There! That was why she felt that something was up. Malfoy had moved from second to first degree murder.

When the Healer returned with a potion for Malfoy to take, the blond managed to somewhat stifle that murderous gleam twinkling in his eyes. Hermione was glad of this; she didn't want the Healer catching sight of Malfoy's homicidal expression and deciding to discharge him before he'd been healed.

"Drink this," the Healer said, casting some kind of spell over Malfoy, presumably so that it could work with the potion and heal the allergic reaction.

As Malfoy drank, the Healer turned to Hermione, looking a little sheepish. "Miss Granger, you and Mr. Malfoy work for the Control and Regulation of Magical Creatures department in the Ministry, correct?"

Warily, Hermione nodded. She didn't like the sheepish and slightly desperate expression on the man's face. This Healer had already proved himself to be relatively unflappable, and she wasn't sure what he was about to ask of them.

"While you're here, we seem to be having a tiny problem with a magical creature. Since your department is the one we'd be contacting anyway, would you mind taking care of it for us?"

Out of the corner of her eye, Hermione caught Malfoy perking up a little. She could just hear the voice of her mother in her head, worryingly tutting, "_Are you sure you want a dangerous job like that, Hermione? What about a nice, safe dentistry practice?"_

She was starting to think that perhaps her mother had been right.

* * *

Hermione regarded the creature that was terrorizing the hospital. Apparently, some bright person had accidentally transfigured both his brother and the vampire attacking him into clay pots and then brought the wrong pot into the hospital to have him changed back. Just because magical people had access to magic did not mean that they were any smarter in using it than some Muggles were with their power tools. It seemed that all types of people had to deal with the common morons.

Without her permission, Hermione's body took a slow step towards the vampire. There was something entrancing about the bottomless blackness of his eyes. A deep-buried part of her mind knew that the older, stronger vampires were able to control mortals to an extent with their gazes, but she had forgotten that fact just long enough to meet his eyes and now she was lost. Her partner was woefully absent, leaving her to face her doom without even the satisfaction of knowing that she wasn't the only one stupid enough to get herself killed by a vampire on a simple assignment of babysitting a prank tree.

Said prank tree had been left in the capable hands of the hospital. Hermione had been informed that the hospital was legally obligated to ensure that certain items from Weasley's Wizard Wheezes were properly disposed of and not allowed back out into the public. She had been a little sad to see the cute tree go, but consoled herself with the fact that it was a danger to the public.

The vampire's cold hands were on Hermione's shoulders, gently guiding her closer as he opened his mouth in a predatory smile, his fangs flashing in the bright hospital light. Hermione knew that she was going to die, but there was nothing she could do to fight the pull of the vampire.

It happened so fast that she spent a moment lost, wondering where the vampire's head had gone. One second she was staring into its cold, dead eyes and the next the vampire's headless body was falling to the floor, and she was sprayed by the disgusting black fluid that passed for blood in the undead creatures.

Malfoy was standing behind the vampire, breathing a little heavily with a naked sword held out in front of him. The blade was streaked with the same black liquid covering Hermione, giving her a pretty good idea about what had happened. She looked up to meet Malfoy's eyes, bright with what she could only describe as the excitement of battle.

"You saved me."

The brightness in his eyes faded as he glared at her. "Don't go all soppy on me, Granger. You helped me by making the hospital treat me - though I can't agree with your methods and won't hesitate to hex you if you take my wand again. We're even."

Knowing that Malfoy clearly wanted her to drop the subject, Hermione pulled her wand out of her pocket and used it to cleanse herself then the sword of the vampire's blood. She would have cleaned the hospital room as well, but she didn't want her spells to interfere with any sanitising spells the hospital may already have in place.

"Where did you find a sword in the hospital?" Hermione asked when she was once again clean.

Malfoy raised the heavy-looking blade with ease and did a fancy twirl with it. "It was embedded in the arm of someone in the waiting room. I went back to grab it when I saw the vampire."

Scolding him for possibly causing a patient to bleed out would be a little hypocritical when he had just used that sword to save her life. Her only consolation was that the man had been in a hospital when Malfoy pulled the sword from him, so he was more than likely perfectly fine, especially if the wound hadn't been severe enough to warrant immediate attention.

"We should probably report back to the Ministry," she said tiredly. The last thing Hermione wanted to face after her exhausting day was the horrible man who had sent her on the tree watching mission, but she needed to fill out a report on the vampire that they had slain.

"Good idea." Malfoy twirled his sword again. "I need to have a little talk with the Fungus." He strode purposefully towards the main lobby, where the Floo was located.

"Malfoy, aren't you going to leave the sword?" Hermione got a little worried when Malfoy only sped up his stride. "Malfoy! You can't just start beheading humans!"

She rushed after him, hoping to catch him before he killed someone back at the office. From what little she had seen of his skill, it seemed that he was rather good at the more violent side of his job. It would be a shame to see such talent wasted in Azkaban just because he decided to turn that very skill on his coworkers.

* * *

One week later:

Because the practical joke with the tree had led to Malfoy being hospitalized, Hermione and Malfoy had each been given their own offices as a sort of apology and insurance that they wouldn't try to press charges. Of course, Malfoy seemed to prefer to sit in the visitor's chair in hers rather than spend time in his own. Her theory was that he got bored alone in his office while he avoided all of his paperwork and so chose to entertain himself by watching her doing her work and annoying her. Occasionally, she regretted stopping him from beheading their boss, but then she remembered that she was a good person who didn't let people behead other people right in front of her.

Hermione scratched away at yet another boring form, trying to block out Malfoy's finger tapping on the edge of his mug as he blew on his tea, waiting for it to cool to a drinkable temperature.

"I can't believe the tea girl quit just because out date was a failure," Malfoy muttered, eyeing his drink suspiciously.

She didn't look up from her form. "'Failure' is a bit of an understatement. You started an elephant stampede and she was trampled."

"Half trampled, she was perfectly fine after a night in the hospital, and I told her that I didn't want to go to the zoo, but she insisted."

Her pen didn't stop its path across her paper as she ignored his excuses.

Malfoy took a sip of his drink and then spit out the hot liquid all over the papers on Hermione's desk, making the still wet ink stain the entire form.

"What was that for?" she demanded angrily, drying her papers with her wand and trying to remind herself that hexing Malfoy wasn't a good idea.

"That new womanat the coffee cart ruined my tea! She's completely incompetent!"

Hermione sighed; she could see this becoming a _thing_ with him.


	32. Chapter 32

**Hello readers! For those of you unaware, I've started posting the sequel to this story. It's called "The Case of the Divine Circus" and you can find the first two chapters of it in my profile. Sorry I forgot to post this immediately.**

**~Frosty**


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